Harsh Reality
by Cottinspriggy
Summary: What Sasuke was seeing made him want to turn around and run back to Orochimaru. Sakura turned towards them, A white blindfold covering her eyes. “What is this?” Sasuke said hoarsely. “She’s Blind Sasuke..” R&R CHAPTER 13 IS UP!
1. Harsh Reality

**Sasuke returns to Konaha only to find that this once bright and cheerful place now has a bleak outlook. One of the most precious things to him, was destroyed and now he has to fix it. **

**- - - - - - - - - - - - **

Naruto walked towards the bridge, he was about half a days walk from Konaha. He looked down in his hand and examined the letter, had he come to the right place? What if it was a trap.

About a week ago Naruto found a bird sitting on his window sill with a letter tied around its foot. Messenger birds were usually sent to the bird tower and at first Naruto thought it might be a trap. He carefully unwrapped the letter and almost immediately he started to shake.

_Naruto. _

_Its Sasuke, I need to come back._

_Back to Konaha, no I haven't fulfilled my revenge and I haven't killed Orochimaru. Orochimaru has decided not to wait and wants to have my body now. I cant have that happen just yet, and I have no where else to go. I would like it of you would meet me at the bridge that goes over The River Tam (_just made up the name_) Well talk there. _

_Sasuke Uchiha…_

_P.S. don't tell Sakura_

Naruto clenched his fists how could he do this? He planned on just using them again. Of course he wouldn't tell Sakura… he couldn't. Not after all she had been through. Just the thought of Sakura made his heart twist. He even felt tears begin to slide down his cheeks. He had tried to resist crying whenever he thought of her but it was too hard. So now, he just cried.

And here he was standing on the bridge waiting for Sasuke. He didn't even say goodbye to Sakura, if he did she would have asked where he was going, And he couldn't lie to her, no one could…

He heard steps behind him and he didn't have to look to see who it was. "Sasuke…"

"Naruto" Came Sasuke monotone voice. Naruto turned to him and studied him. He was still wearing Orochimaru's uniform. Naruto didn't know what to feel , hatred or happiness. "Say something" Naruto said.

Sasuke sighed as if he was annoyed. "what do you want me to say, you read my letter didn't you? It was all in there…" Naruto fumed

"so now what?!? You just wanted a fucking escort back to the city?" his blue eyes flaring

Sasuke glared at him. "do you think that their just going to let me walk back in?"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0- Entering KONAHA -0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Tsunade stood by the gate. Naruto had spoken with her about the situation. Of course he had to if he wanted to leave the village. She waited patiently for the whole day. How would the town react? What about Kakashi… what about Sakura…? The thought of Sakura made her want to vomit. An alternative to crying…

Tsunade dozed off thinking about happier times, times with Sakura, training in the woods and pummeling Sakura with different techniques. Before she knew it Naruto was standing in front of her with an all too familiar person at his side… Sasuke.

Tsunade had planned on civilly welcoming him back but all the anger she had felt for the last two years suddenly exploded out of her and she could barely control herself "Welcome back" She said through gritted teeth, She glared at him so intensely that even Sasuke felt a shiver go down his spine. 'why is she so pissed at me?'

"Naruto.. bring Sasuke to my office.. and … tell them he is back…" she said with restraint.

Naruto looked up at her. "everyone…?"

She looked at him with glassy eyes "yes Naruto… we have to"

Sasuke eyed the two what the fuck was going on?

The walk to the tower was a long one. A long quiet one, so quiet that even Sasuke couldn't stand it.

"so how is every one..?" he said quietly

"fine… Gaara's in town right now.." Naruto looked at the ground

"Aa… is he at the hokage's tower?"

"yeah… He visiting someone…"

"soo… do you still eat the that ramen place, wasn't the name Ichi.. something.."

"I haven been there in a while… " Naruto never lifted his head.

Sasuke watched him… what happened here? When they approached the tower Sasuke spotted Neji and they shared a glare. Or at least Sasuke glared… Neju looked at him with the slightest hint of amazement, but it quickly turned to disgust. Neji turned to Naruto and gave him a questioning look. "He came back Neji.. isn't that great?!" Naruto said, for the first time showing at least half of a genuine smile. Neji nodded lightly… "does he know?"

Naruto's smile immediately faded "no.. I'm about to show him…"

"Ill go with you then…"

Sasuke looked at them "do I know what? Whats going on with everybody?"

Neji shook his head "Well show you…"

They walked through a long hallway, several people were in it, some of them Sasuke used to know, but they barely spared him a glance, they all seemed dazed and lost, not wanting to move. At the end of the hall was a door, with a small window in the middle of it. Sasuke saw Gaara walk into the door.

Then it hit him.. a sick feeling suddenly filled Sasuke's stomach.. "Naruto… where's Sakura?"

Naruto watched has Gaara stepped out of the room, he smiled at Naruto and then looked at Sasuke "hn" he said with a hint of distaste. Naruto stepped closer to the door and looked through the small window. "look in here Sasuke.." Sasuke stepped closer to the window and looked through it. "Sakura…" He whispered.

There she was, her hair was just as short and just as pink, she sat in the middle of a room with a large coy pond in it and several other things. She was wearing her Haruno clothing and sitting in the edge of the pond with a dead fish in her hands. Sasuke recognized the green glow around her hands. Naruto gently knocked on the door and Sakura turned her head. What Sasuke saw made him want to turn around and run back to Orochimaru.

Sakura looked towards the door, but not with her eyes…., a white cloth was gently tied over her eyes.

"What is this?" Sasuke said hoarsely.

"She's Blind Sasuke.."

YAY!!! Chapter one is DONE!!! The ext one will be a fun one so please review because om posting every 20 reveiws… Thankyou!!!


	2. Nightmares and Good News

Thank you for the reviews, anyway here it is! (:

- - -

-Previously-

**Naruto gently knocked on the door and Sakura turned her head. What Sasuke saw made him want to turn around and run back to Orochimaru. **

**Sakura turned towards them, A white blindfold covering her eyes.**

"**What is this?" Sasuke said hoarsely. **

"**She's Blind Sasuke.." **

- - - - - -

"what?" he asked with disbelief in his voice. "how… how did this.." he felt sick, how could this have happened, he felt disgusted, disgusted with himself that he couldn't be here for her when she needed him the most. Naruto opened to door and put his hand on Sasuke's back "go in" he whispered. Sakura's head perked up and light smile on her lips "Naruto is that you?" Sasuke had never felt so afraid in his life, it was like all his training and years of emotionless meant nothing now. He took a step forward.

Sakura reached out her hand and struggled to stand up. "Naruto. Is that you?" she repeated, this time more slowly. Sasuke examined the sight before him, Sakura stood there, her skin unnaturally pale and her now frail hand reaching out to him. He took one of her hands and she instantly froze. "who are you?" she said, her voice shaking lightly.

He couldn't answer, he didn't know what to say. She moved her hand around until she found his forearm and gradually moved it up to his shoulder "Neji is that you?" she said trying to calm herself. Sasuke would have 'hn'ed' but he couldn't even muster that. It was like looking at a ghost, and every second that her hand reached closer to his face, he could feel his heartbeat slow, he was terrified. Her hand reached his cheek and he felt her thumb go down the bridge of his nose and stop. She tore her hand away and a loud scream echoed through the room. "NARUTO!" She screamed backing away from Sasuke like a bird from fire. Sasuke tried to grab a hold of her wrist but she ripped away from him falling back into the pond. Sasuke wound have dove after her but her was too late, Neji and Naruto were already helping her up, her hands frantically searching the air looking for a familiar hand. Naruto took and hand and whispered soothing words that only Naruto could. (this is not a NaruSak fic, im just trying to portray how she trusts him the most) Sakura choked back more screams as she stood up out of the water "g-get him out!" she cried to them as if he were a bee that had flown into her room.

Sasuke reached out to her again "Sakura it-"

"NO! Get out !!!" her legs scrambled around beneath her as her finders constantly checked to make sure both Naruto and Neji were still there. Naruto gave Sasuke a sad look and nodded to him "you should go… well be there in a minute.." Sasuke couldn't believe what he was seeing… He quickly backed out of the room, shock spread all over his face. He stepped outside only to see at least twenty familiar faces all giving him the same look… I mixture of pity… and anger. Tsunade sighed and turned away "well have our meeting tomorrow… I'm too tired right now." Sakura's light sobbing could still be heard through the door. Sasuke covered his ears with his hands. This was too much, he expected people to all be surprised that the all mighty Uchiha had returned home, he expected Sakura to fall onto him sobbing about how glad she was that he had returned. Either that or angry that he had left… but not this. She was afraid of him… she was _terrified _of him… but why? He looked back into the room to see Naruto tighly wrapping his arms around Sakura's shivering form. He could see her lips moving but he couldn't hear her speaking. "How did this happen?" he whispered turning to Gaara.

Gaara closed his eyes and sighed, "Sakura should be the one to tell you.."

"she can barely stand to be around me, you think she would tell me that?" he said slightly annoyed.

Gaara looked him in the eye "Yes… in time she will.." Sasuke stared at him

'why does Sakura trust him … and not me?'

"how are you involved in this Gaara?" he asked with a slight hint of jealously in his voice.

"a lot of things have happened since you've left Sasuke… a lot of things…" Naruto stepped out of the room followed by Neji. "She's still pretty upset… so I think she should be left to herself for the rest of the day" he announced to the crowd that had come to visit her. Sasuke noticed many of them were sick or injured. Gaara sighed "well I have to get back to Sand… but ill come back soon."

Naruto smiled broadly "well it cant be easy for the godaime to come down here every week!"

Sasuke's brain froze "Godaime?" he said looking at Gaara with amazement "y… YOU?"

Gaara nodded "I have to go… goodbye" he said then Naruto who waved happily to him. "have a good journey home"

Sasuke watched as Gaara left behind a crowd of ill visitors "Naruto"

"hm?"

"why are some of them sick?" he said,

Naruto smiled proudly "Sakura is the best medic in all of Konaha… even better than Tsunade."

Sasuke's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. "but shes-"

"Blind?" Naruto's blue eyes pierced Sasuke like needles.

Sasuke would have 'hn'ed' but he felt like if he opened his mouth he would vomit. "I… I'm going home…"

Naruto nodded "you'll need an escort there and back… The counsel doesn't think your much of a threat considering you came back on your own… but one slip and they'll have to kill you…" his voice was grim but serious. Almost daring Sasuke to try anything.

Sasuke sat in the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. It had been so long… since he came back, since walked through his house, since he sat on his own bed, since he had seen his friends… Naruto… and Sakura….

Sakura

'She's Blind Sasuke…'

Naruto words swam through his head over and over again, filling his stomach with that all too familiar sick feeling…

Weakness…

He felt weak, for not being able to help..

But there was something else… something worse…

Something in the way Naruto and everyone else spoke to him… as if there was something they wanted to say.

'She's blind Sasuke…'

He pulled at his black hair clenching his teeth together.

'She's blind Sasuke…'

How?

'She's blind Sasuke…'

Tsunade's face popped into his mind,

'She's blind Sasuke…'

She looked so angry

'She's blind Sasuke…'

At him…

'She's blind Sasuke…'

But why?

'She's blind Sasuke…'

Sasuke's imagination began to flare and previous happenings began to replay in his head.

'She's blind Sasuke…'

Naruto delicately holding Sakura's trembling form

'She's blind Sasuke…'

Naruto turned to him, his eyes now red and his teeth fanged.

'She's blind Sasuke…'

Sakura's blindfold slipped off

'She's blind Sasuke…'

And blood poured out of where her eyes should have been.

'She's blind Sasuke…'

'She's blind Sasuke…'

'She's blind Sasuke…'

'She's blind Sasuke…'

"She's Blind Sasuke… and its all your fault!!!"

Sasuke screamed and threw his fist at the wall causing his room to shake

"SHUT UP!!!" his voice was strained and for a moment he thought he might cry. But he stopped himself, taking in a deep breath.

Sasuke laid down in his bed savoring the softness. Something he hadn't felt in a while. He took in the familiar scent of his home and drifted into a sleep filled with nightmares.

- - - - - - -

Naruto woke up before the sun, he got out of bed and washed his face looking into the mirror.

"Naruto.." came a lazy voice from behind him. Naruto whipped around "Oi! Kakashi sensei I didn't let you I here!!!"

The silver haired ninja smiled "your door was open"

Naruto squinted his eyes at him "well what do you want?" he said while childishly putting his hands on his hips.

Kakashi's smile was brighter than usual "I have good news.." Naruto could tell that Kakashi was about to burst from joy.

Only one thing could make Kakashi that happy… and the one thing was Sakura Haruno.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-00—0-0-0-0-0-0-

Please review!!!

Sorry about the cliffie but that's just how I roll


	3. A Year and Three Months

Kakashi's smile was brighter than usual "I have good news.." Naruto could tell that Kakashi was about to burst from joy.

Only one thing could make Kakashi that happy… and the one thing was Sakura Haruno.

**- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **

Sakura stayed huddled in the corner of her room, her breathing was sharp and painful. her palms rubbing up against each other violently. 'why would he come back?'

'he's just going to hurt me' she whimpered as if remembering a nightmare.

'_it wasn't real'_

'it felt so real… over and over again'

'_Sakura you know it wasn't real,' _

"I know" she said aloud. "but why am I still so afraid…?"

A sob escaped her thought. She rested her head against the wall slowly drifting into sleep.

'click'

Sakura's head shot up.

She could hear the door slowly opening, as if the person behind it was being cautious. "w-who's there?" she asked her voice shaky. But something inside her told her she already knew who it was. "Sa… Sasuke…" she did her best to hide the fear in her voice. "please leave".

She heard a deep sigh and finally retreating steps. "…goodnight Sakura" came Sasuke's familiar voice. It was like a chime, something in Sakura's memory that she had pushed so far back she almost for got how it sounded completely.

Sasuke leaned up against the wall listening. She wasn't doing anything. Just complete silence. The Sakura he remembered wasn't like this at all. She was full of life and joy, like a refreshing breeze. Sasuke always told her what a burden she was, and how useless she was, but without her… Naruto, Kakashi, Ino, Gaara and himself… what would they be like now? Would they all slowly crumble apart. Sakura was their glue.. and now… she was broken. He sighed and turned to leave, he was tired and tomorrow was sure to be eventfull…

- - - - - - - -

Naruto lay on the floor of his apartment, his head throbbing, he opened an eye and looked to his left to see Kakashi sitting lazily in a chair next to him. Naruto opened half of his mouth to speak, his voice groggy and low. "hey… Kakashi … how'd you get in here?" he asked through swollen lips. Kakashi sighed and stood up, "think about it for a moment Naruto and then maybe you will remember." Naruto scratched the back of his neck thoughtfully, (Flashback) _Naruto took in a huge breath "this is Great Kakashi!" his hands balled into fists "now we can-" Kakashi silenced him "no Naruto… were not __**positive**__ but it is a good chance..." Naruto's blue eyes practically bulged out of his head and his body shook with excitedment. (_end flashback) both of his eyes squinted to thin lines. "I don't remember anything after that…" Kakashi pointed up at the ceiling where a small red blotch could be seen. "you jumped up, hit your head and passed out…" Naruto grumbled and stood up. "So… are we sure about this?". Kakashi shook his head "No, but its worth a shot ne?" he asked, a hidden smile under his mask.

(Flashback)

"_Oh god Sakura…" Naruto sobbed onto her broken figure. "Im so sorry" _

_Kakashi felt his heart tear in half as he delicately lifted her head onto his lap. "Sa..Sakura…" he whispered. He wiped some blood off of her cheek and searched for any trace of his old student. Naruto sobbed uncontrollably onto her belly. Gaara towered over them looking down at her. They had come to late… he should have tried harder. He reached for one of her hands and gave it a gentle squeeze. His flaming red hear was matted down with sweat and blood, most of it was Sakura's.. _

_Neji looked at her with his Byakugan, she was alive… but barely. Her chakra levels were extremely low and seemed to be focused around her hands and eyes. The white hot energy swirled around her eyes almost as if in a panic, and then she slowly lifted her hands to her face. Her delicate finger searching for her eyes. When she found them, she began to silently sob. Neji began to worry but Naruto took this sign of life as a blessing and hugged her calling out incoherent words that probably meant something meaningful. Kakashi delicately held up his pupils head, his voice hiccupped and shallow. Gaara could have sworn her could see a smile from behind that mask. But Sakura was in pain, extreme pain and she had no Chakra left to heal herself. Neji knelt down nexto to Naruto, "she needs immediate medical attention and we are at least three days from Konaha..." _

_Naruto looked at his through teary blue eyes and nodded._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sasuke sat quietly. His arms crossed stubbornly across his chest. Tsunade poured herself a tall glass of alcohol and slowly swallowed the sacred nectar. She licked her lips and a light shade of pink began to tint her cheeks. Sasuke would have sighed out of boredom if not for the fact the he never spoke…

Tsunade slammed her class down on the table and forcefully yanked some papers out of her desk. "so… Sasuke…" she eyed him suspiciously. "tell me why you left Orochimaru"

He looked up at her, his dark eyes showing the slightest but of irritation, "I thought that would be obvious…"

"You know Sasuke… I need a valid reason… not just your letter" she said waving the wrinkled parchment in front of his face. He silently scowled, this women know how to get on your nerves. "Orochimaru is dying, he needs a new body now, and so instead of waiting for me to kill Itachi he decided to take immediate action" he spoke without pausing as is impatient to get his point across. Tsunade was unfazed "so why come back to Konaha?" her eyes never left her papers. "Familiar territory" he spoke quickly and sharply as if expecting every single question. Tsunade inwardly smirked,

"if not Konaha where else?"

"the Uchiha's have more than one estate, and many secret bases…"

"would you have gone alone"

"of course"

"did you have any teammates with Orochimaru?"

"yes"

"What was your team name"

"Team seve-" Sasuke paused

Did he actually almost say that?

Tsunade looked up at him "what was that?" she asked, hiding her smirk.

"Team Hebi…" he looked at the wall now finding it extremely fascinating.

"I see…"

"…"

"well then… there is one more question … that I need to ask you…"  
Her voice became serious as if she had had no alcohol for a week.

"Sasuke Uchiha…"

He looked up at her.

"where were you exactly a year and three months ago"

Sasuke gave her a quizzical look "I was training…"

"with?"

"With Orochimaru"

"Where?"

"in underground tunnels and caves… in almost complete seclusion…"

"and during this training did he use and mind jutsu on you?"

"no"

"are you absolutely positive?" she leaned forward a bit.

He nodded.

"hmm…" she rested her head in her hand and gazed to her right side where a plain wooden chair stood.

Sasuke looked at is with disinterest.

"do you see that chair Uchiha?"

He nodded

"that's where Sakura sits during my counsel meetings… they all disapprove of her being here…and many times tell her themselves… but I always insist on having her here.."

"Tsunade… what happened a year ago?"

"a year and three months…."

"well what happened?"

"Tsunades brown eyes wavered as she looked at the chair "I wish I knew…"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**I have to apologize for THREE things…**

**One is that I didn't update for about three million years… IM SORRY ): **

**And two, when I did update this chapter I realized it was short and boring…**

**And three … when I finished it, I forgot to proofread it and I just sent it out.. so then I had to go back, fix it, and replace it… sorry to all who are readers…. Don't hate me… Oh yeah and I pan to go back and fix up chapter two… but I promise I will put up chapter 4 before I do that.,.**


	4. The mission

Thank you for the reviews, they were loved (:

Moontale- Thank you (:

Angel2559- Your review made me so happy! I don't know why though. But thx!

DS9Jedi- I love you too (:

Animeprincess32- lol, really? I didn't really notice (:

Rikku92- lol I will I promise!!!

Thanks to all my other wonderful reviewers, I just randomly selected reviews to reply to, so don't feel bad If I didn't post yours, I read all my reviews! (:

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Tsunade sad quietly at her desk, her hand occasionally etched closer to her bottle of Sake but the current situation was no drinking matter. Sakura's seat was empty which made her uncomfortable. "So ..." she started as she stared at the people before her. Naruto, Sai, Neji, and Sasuke. An elite team, fast and strong. The only thing missing was a medic. But Sakura would fill in that position perfectly. Tsunade felt pleased and confident with her decision and folded her amrs across her chest. "You are the team I will be sending on a very important escort mission…"

Naruto nodded with excitement and Tsunade sighed. She had originally asked Kakashi to keep it a secret from Naruto… but then again… Sakura was a part of their family; it was understandable that he would want to tell Naruto. "right then… Naruto you **obviously** know about this mission already…" she narrowed her eyes at him as his smile widened. "But the rest of the group does not…"

Naruto jabbed Sai in the ribs with his elbow "you'll never guess what it is!" he whispered excitedly. Sai flashed him a fake smile and nodded in blind agreement. Sasuke twitched, this person was extremely irritating, there was no fucking way that HE had been his replacement while he was training with Orochimaru.

Tsunade held up a map with many scribbles and sketches on it. She pointed at a spot on the map that had been circled in red ink. "This is where you will be going" She handed the map to Neji who looked at it for a moment then handed it back to her "why a swamp?" he asked.

"Oh I didn't choose that place" She said slightly defensively.

Sai put on his fake smile again "so what's at this swamp?"

Tsunade twitched, something about this boy irritated her to no end "A healer"

"But aren't you a top class medic?" Neji inquired.

"Yes but this woman specializes in something…." She drummed her fingers on the table.

Sasuke was about to ask but Neji beat him to it "What exactly is that?"

Tsunade stared at all of them "Eyes"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sakura smiled as she placed her hands on the chest of a young boy "my goodness Kaoru! Have you gotten taller?" her hands began to glow as she soothed his lungs.

"Yep, almost three inches!" he was a small boy, frail and weak, and suffering from severe asthma. They said he would never be able to become a ninja but he worked hard and Sakura was confident in him.

"So, how are you doing in school?" She asked casually.

His voice saddened a bit "not so good, every one else is stronger than me"

"That's all right Kaoru, when I first started I was very weak too, people always had to rescue me and it seemed that I would always be the weakest link"

Kaoru's eyes widened a bit "YOU were weak?"

Sakura nodded "so you see that as long as you try your hardest you will fulfill your dreams." The glow left her hands and she sat him up. "Yeah… I keep telling myself that, do you think I will get my forehead protector?"

Sakura nodded "Just try your absolute hardest"

She wasn't lying, she did have faith in him, he was a strong hearted boy with a weak body, but then again that wasn't very different from herself or Naruto. When children start training to become ninja they think that they should be strong right off the bat, but everyone started out weak, save for a few prodigy's but they didn't really count.

It's the ones that had to try hard just to be accepted and noticed, those are the ones that will make the biggest difference. The boy thanked her and hurried off to his mother, he was the last patient of the day and Sakura relaxed into a chair. She listened to the water flowing gently in her little indoor pond. (She's in the room from the beginning) Tsunade said she had wanted to speak with her, Sakura was guessing it was about Sasuke but there was no point in getting upset. It was bound to happen eventually. For some reason, thinking about Sasuke didn't bother her. It was actually being near him that frightened her. She sighed and stood up, fumbling her way toward the door. She never went out on her own, but every now and then she thought about trying. And besides, it was just to the hokage's tower. She slowly walked through the hallway until she felt sunlight on her skin. _'ok… now which way was it again?'_

She was lost…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Sai walked silently out of the tower. Stunade asked him to go and bring Sakura to her so he did. But he never expected to see her walking around outside. He walked towards her making his footsteps loud so she could hear him coming. "hello?" she asked. Sai felt a pang of pity go through him as he looked at her. She wore her normal fighting attire and her blindfold. Her hands were out in front of her and he could tell she was nervous, and most likely lost.

"Its Sai" he took one of her hands and put it up to his face. She touched his hair and the bridge of his nose and smiled "oh hello Sai what brings you here?" she didn't really need to ask, but she always liked to make him talk.

"Tsunade asked me to bring you to the tower" emotionless as usual….

"Oh… well I was just on my way there!" she said smiling innocently.

Sai didn't bother to display fake emotions in front of her, she couldn't see them anyway "It looked like you were lost"

Sakura's smile faded a bit. "Oh really?... am I near the tower at all?"

"No, you were walking in the opposite direction"

"Oh" she sweatdropped and rubbed the back of her neck.

"that's allright, you need to get out more anyway" he began walking with her guiding her through busy streets and around obstacles.

Sakura remained silent the rest of the way to the tower.

"Watch you step Sakura" Sai took both of her hands and led her up the stairs. Sakura hated stairs the most, normally Naruto would carry her up them but she'd prefer if Sai didn't do that.

Sai let go of one of her hands and led her down a hallway and eventually to the Hokage's office. She heard him open the door and tug on her hand.

"Hello Sakura" Came Tsunade's familiar voice. "Hello" she chimed. Naruto took her hand from Sai and led her to her chair "Thank you Naruto"

"Sure Sakura-chan" he sat down again, his eyes never leaving her. Sasuke wondered how she would react, did she know he was here?

Tsunade coughed "Sakura, there are several people in the room," Sakura nodded.

"Naruto is here, Sai, Neji and Sasuke…" Sakura nodded "I know"

"oh.. well then…" Tsunade stuttered a bit , no matter what, Sakura always seemed a step ahead of her. "well then Sakura, your all going on a mission." Sakura's head shot up and turned toward Tsunade "a mission?" she couldn't hide the excitement in her voice. Naruto frowned, Sakura hadn't been sent on a mission ever since she became blind…

Tsunade shook her head pinching the bridge of her nose. She should have chosen her words more carefully. "well actually… **they **are going on the mission…" she said referring to the boys. Sakura lowered her head "Oh…"

"You Sakura are going to be escorted to a small village in the middle of a swamp, about five days walk from here…" Tsunade hated the way it sounded but it was the only way to say it.

"Why a swamp?"

"there's a small cluster of healers there…"

-o-o-o-o-o-o(Flashback)-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"They specialize in eyes." Tsunade stated. Sasuke looked up at her immediately understanding "Sakura" he mumbled.

She nodded "Exactly., they heard about her situation and I received a letter about three days ago… it's a long shot but they say they can make her see again,"

Sai felt a strange tingle in the corners of his mouth, was he smiling?

Naruto slammed his hands together "we should leave as soon as possible! Tonight!" he practically fell out of his seat.

"No Naruto … tomorrow" Tsunade looked at her papers again, "Ill go over the rest of the basics when Sakura herself in here… speaking of which, Sai, will you go and get her?"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-(End flashback)-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Well Sakura… these healers specials in eyes…" Tsunade studied her pupil.

Sakura stiffened, "will they be able to make me see again?"

"Were not sure, but maybe we can find out what happened…" Sakura clenched her hands together and nodded. Sakura knew what happened, or at least what she could remember of it, but she didn't want the rest of them to know…

"So, you will be leaving tomorrow morning, early. You wont be needing any masks or anything… but Sasuke, have you thought about changing out of that?"

Sasuke 'hn'ed' "what do you mean"

Tsunade sighed "well that's what you wore when you were still in league with Orochimaru…"

Sakura lifted her head, and her shoulders tensed, this went unnoticed by everyone.

Sasuke shrugged "Ill just leave it on"

Naruto looked at him through the corner of his eye.

It was hard to believe he was really back.

Tsuande continued to brief them for the next half hour until she dismissed them. Naruto eagerly stepped towards Sakura taking her hand. "Thank you Naruto," she smiled as he began to lead her home, Sasuke trailing behind them.

Any time you spoke to Sakura, or if she didn't recognize you, she would put her hand on your face, it was the only way she recognized most people. But with Naruto, she didn't need to do that, She took his hand and immediately knew who he was. Sasuke watched as Naruto spoke with her as if nothing was wrong. Naruto turned to look at Sasuke "Oi! Teme, why are you so far behind!?" Sasuke picked up his pace a little until he stood next to Sakura, who stepped to the other side of Naruto avoiding Sasuke. Naruto ignored this and continued to lead her home.

Her room was simple, but full of living things, there were fish in her pond, two canaries in a cage, and plants of all sorts. Naruto brought her to a chair next to the pond and let go of her hand "So Sakura are you excited" Sakura nodded "Y-yes, I hope it works.."

Naruto took off his sandals and put his feet in the pond "What if it doesn't…? What will you do?" he asked.

Sakura placed her hands in her lap "at least we tried"

Sasuke hadn't spoken to her since last night, he didn't know why he went into her room, maybe he was just curious. But whatever the reason, she obviously didn't want to be alone with him. He took a step closer to where she sat and like an abused cat she jumped out of her chair. He flinched "Sakura I-"

"Sasuke" Naruto looked at him and shook his head.

Sakura held out her hand in Naruto's direction and he took it. Sakura fumbled around until she found the edge of the pond and sat down. Sasuke sat on the other side of Naruto. Naruto sighed lightly "Just like old times ne?"

Sakura nodded, probably just to make Naruto feel better. Sasuke didn't do anything, it wasn't like old times at all. For one Sakura was blind, two Naruto was less cheerful, three Sasuke had no clue what happened, and four… Sakura wasn't in the middle…

Whenever they did anything, Sakura was in the middle. Even in their group picture, she was in the middle, whenever Naruto and he fought she was always in the middle. But now, Naruto was in the middle… Protecting Sakura from Sasuke.

"Well Sakura, do you need help packing?" Naruto smiled.

"No I think I can do it, but thank you anyway" she smiled .

"Well then I think we should head out to pack, Ill come by in the morning to get you Ok?"

Sakura nodded as she heard them step out of the water and head towards the door. "By Sakura-Chan!"

"Goodbye Naruto" she waved in the direction she thought he was.

"Goodbye Sakura…"

"…" She didn't want to answer.

"Sakura-" he started.

"Goodbye" she quickly said hoping that he would leave.

If Sasuke didn't have such good self control he probably would have throttled her out of frustration. But instead, he turned and left, following silently behind Naruto.

The moon was a tiny little sliver in the sky, hiding behind a thick blanket of clouds. "Naruto" Sasuke stopped and looked up at the sky.

Naruto stopped and turned to him "what is it?"

"I need to talk to you…" Naruto turned to him and nodded. This would most likely be a long talk with many questions…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o(Morning)-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke woke up early that morning, irritated and tired. He snatched up his bag and left his house. He originally had planned on going with Naruto to pick up Sakura but Naruto obviously didn't want him to come. He stomped toward the gates where the rest of the group was already waiting.

"Am I late?" he asked offhandedly.

Neji who was leaning against a wall glanced at him, "No not really, Sai just got here"

Naruto was fussing over Sakura asking her if she remembered to pack everything she needed and if she remembered weapons, and her medical kit and any other item he could imagine. Sakura, who at this point was fuming reached for his collar but ended up grabbing a tuft of his yellow hair. "Naruto please! I remembered everything, I am a Shinobi after all!" she stated defensively. Naruto smiled sadly, "I know that Sakura.."

Neji straightened himself up, "Well then… lets go"

Sai nodded and walked casually behind him. Sasuke followed in suit and looked back to see Naruto and Sakura. It seemed Naruto was more excited then she was. "Ready Sakura?" He took her hand and waited for a response. Sakura lifted her head and Sasuke felt a cold shiver go up his spine and through his bones. She smiled lightly "Are you?" and Stared walking. Naruto laughed "Of course **I** am!"

But Sasuke could have sworn she was looking at_ him…_

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o---o-o-o-o-o-o\\

YAY!!! Nice and longish!.

So I hope you all liked this chapter, the reason the last chapter took so long was because well, … it was boring and I hate writing boring crap, but this chapter was fun and the next one will be super fun. So! Hope you liked it!!! Please review!!!


	5. Rain, Stars, and Recognision

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-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Ready Sakura?" He took her hand and waited for a response. Sakura lifted her head and Sasuke felt a cold shiver go up his spine and through his bones. She smiled lightly "Are you?" and Started walking. Naruto laughed "Of course **I** am!"

But Sasuke could have sworn she was looking at_ him…_

-o-o-o-o-o-

They had been walking non stop for most of the day, Sakura hadn't said a peep, Naruto hadn't shut up, and Neji, Sai, and Sasuke just were their usual selves. Sasuke watched Sakura's feet moved shakily across the ground. She hadn't been out in a long time. Naruto Had let go of her hand a while back and now stood next to Sai talking about his painting skills. Sakura was simply following the sound of Naruto's voice and Sasuke followed a short distance behind her. Neji was ahead of the group scouting the area and it seemed they had all forgotten their little blind girl.

Sasuke looked up at Naruto and caught a bit of his conversation with Sai,

"Sai how can you even consider yourself a man when you where a belly shirt?" Naruto seemed exasperated and his eyes were wider than usual. Sai looked blankly back at him "well I would like to ask you the same thing"

Naruto squinted his eyes "What do you mean? I'm plenty Manly!!" he puffed out his chest and flexed his muscles.

Sai flashed him a fake smile "but you don't have a dick, isn't that something that you require to be considered a man?"

Naruto's smile immediately disintegrated and he raised his fist to attack. "Sai you-"

A small gasp was heard and Naruto turned his head just in time to see Sakura falling toward the ground. Sasuke hadn't been paying attention and didn't have time to react. A loud thud was heard and Sakura hit the ground landing on some rocks that scraped her shoulder. Within an instant the entire group was at her side. Sasuke gently grabbed her shoulders and helped her sit up. "Im fine" she mumbled but Sasuke didn't let go of her. "Sai, I said I was fine" her voice was a little sharper this time. Sai looked at her "Im over here Sakura" he said. Sakura reached her hand awkwardly behind her and searched around for a face. Sasuke could have sworn her felt his balls shrink into his chest. Her hand landed on his hair and she jumped away from him, scurrying in the opposite direction. Neji took her hand and helped her sit upright. Sasuke watched as they all took care of her, he wanted to help, but it seemed that he just caused trouble. "Naruto I'm FINE!" she balled her hands into fists and tried to stand up "I just tripped, I'm fine…" Naruto helped her stand up and picked up some of her things that had fallen out of her pack. Sasuke watched her intently, she was humiliated. A ninja tripping over a small rock in the road then landing flat on their face wasn't exactly praise worthy. A cut on her shoulder began to lightly bleed and she lifted a hand to heal it. Naruto looked at her, his blue eyes filled with worry, "Sakura your hurt! We should stop and-"

Sasuke took a step forward "No" he stated. Naruto glared at him "what do you mean No?"

Neji and Sai looked at him also. Sasuke straightened up "She's fine, she is a ninja after all,, it'll take more that that,..." he spoke as if she has gotten a paper cut. Sakura smiled lightly, her embarrassment slowly wearing off. Naruto was about to open his mouth again but Neji stopped him "He's right Naruto, lets just keep moving.."

Naruto nodded stiffly and they all proceeded walking. Sakura hung her head low and bit her lower lip. She wanted to cry so badly. Just let all her feelings out. But she couldn't do that, she had tried so hard to be strong through all of this. Even when Naruto would talk to her about her blindness, she would just brush it aside and change the subject. But the truth is, she really wanted to talk about it, she wanted someone to sympathize with her and know exactly how she felt. She could smell rain… but she couldn't see it. She longed to see those grey clouds billowing out of the horizon and those little droplets falling carelessly from the sky…

She could hear a pitter patter of the little droplet's of water falling on the ground as they rapidly approached. She didn't feel the water fall onto her head though. Naruto took her hand and placed an umbrella in it "Here you go Sakura-chan!" She guessed he was smiling broadly by the sound of his voice. She smiled and nodded, afraid that if she opened her mouth to speak, a sob might escape her lips. She listened as the rain fell harder and harder, the temperature dropped about five degrees but it didn't bother her. What bothered her was the fact that now she was completely isolated from the rest of the group. Before, at least she could hear them talking to each other. But now all she could hear was the rain. She heard them speaking, but she couldn't decipher what they said, she heard them all talking, even Sai and Sasuke were in the conversation. She wondered what they could have been talking about. She wondered if they had umbrella's, Or had they given her the only one? Sakura drifted into thought and before she knew it she felt someone grab her hands, surprised she instantly froze up and reached her hand toward the persons face.

Neji Hyuuga , he was soaking wet. 'so they did give me the only one…' she thought.

"Sakura were making camp here tonight." She noticed that the rain had stopped and wherever they were was dry. Probably a cave or something. "oh, Where are we?"

He lead her to a bedroll and helped her sit down "underneath a tree," he let go of her hands and she heard him fiddling with something.

Neji scrapped to sticks of wood against each other ferociously until a spark spat out from them. The fire immediately bloomed fourth and warmed the entire group. Naruto scooted closer to Sakura and pulled his knees up to his chest. She knew he was there, she could smell his familiar scent. It was always the same. Noodles, fresh air, and sometimes even grass. A sweet mixture that she became accustomed to and eventually looked forward to smelling. He didn't say anything, just sat. Sakura could tell he wanted to tell her something but he was waiting for the right moment. Sasuke stood over the fire and watched it intently, they had very little wood and in case it rained again they should have some extra to built a lean-to. "Neji, Sai" He said abruptly as they two looked at him "We need more wood, lets split up and fine some," Neji silently nodded in agreement "Sai and I will go this way and be back in twenty" he leaned his head to his left indication the direction he meant. "All right" Sasuke turned to Naruto "Naruto you go that way and Ill stay here an-"

"No" Sakura's meek chirp cut him off. He looked at her with impassive eyes. "Naruto will stay here… you can go" Sasuke looked to Naruto hoping to hear him say something like 'oh Sakura don't be like that' but Naruto only turned his head away. "Hn" his voice was sharp and serious and Sakura would have cringed but she held it back. She heard him walking away and Naruto shifted next to her. "Hey.. Sakura-chan…" he asked quietly.

She turned to him "yeah?"

"Can I talk to you about something?" he spoke slowly as if he were afraid of the words themselves. She nodded. "Its about Sasuke…" he said.

"What about him?"

"don't play stupid Sakura… for some reason your terrified of him! not just afraid, you act like he's going to murder you!"

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it, her irritation was plastered onto her face.

"Sakura do you remember when … when we first found you?" his voice was wavering now and she could guess that he was crying. "Naruto…" she reached for his hand.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura wandered around the forest picking up trees along the way. He currently had about seven full sized trees in his arms and planned on getting at least three more. He had been walking for about fifteen minutes and spotted an open area up ahead. When he reached it he noticed the burnt grass and large craters that splattered the clearing. He walked further out into the clearing, having since dropped his trees, and examined the scene. A battle happened here… a big one. But it happened long ago. The rocks that were jutting out of the earth were now worn down by weather and rain, the ashes from the fire now practically blended in with the earth. But Sasuke had a trained eye and could identify a battle scene right away. He could almost smell the putrid scent of rotting flesh and instinctively covered his mouth. There were no dead bodies, and even if there were, they would have rotted away ages ago… but this place stank of blood and death. He grimaced at the thought of what this field looked like when this battle took place and he turned to leave.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When he returned to camp Neji and Gaara had already come back and unpacked their things, and the fire was not twice as big as before. Sakura sat near the trunk of the tree they were under and turned her head in his direction as he stepped closer to the campsite. Neji sat not far from her. He looked up at Sasuke and turned towards Sakura informing her who it was. Sakura nodded and faced the fire again. Sasuke set the trees he had been carrying down and walked towards where Naruto lay in his bedroll, facing the fire. Sai was also in his bed but only Naruto was awake. Sasuke noticed Naruto's bloodshot eyes and concluded he had been crying. But the reason was unclear. Neji tossed Sasuke a bedroll, "Here, we should all go to sleep… we've got a long day ahead of us…" Sasuke mumbled a 'thanks' and looked for a good spot. Neji got up and walked toward Naruto and Sai and slipped into his own bed. Slowly falling asleep. Sasuke chose a spot between Naruto and Sakura but keeping a comfortable distance from her. She sat there on her bed with her knees tucked to her chin and her fingers reaching out to the fire warming themselves. Naruto's breathing was hiccupped and he tried his hardest to hold them back. Sasuke did not lie down, he sat, similar to Sakura only Indian style, as if he were meditating. Naruto's breathing became more steady and eventually he passed out, murmuring 'goodnight' quietly before he closed his eyes. Sakura felt Sasuke's eyes on her and instinctively rubbed her arms.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Do you remember when we first found you?"

"Naruto…" she reached for his hand and grasped it tightly.

"You… you couldn't even…" Naruto was now sitting right in front of her wiping the water fall of tears away as quickly as he could. "You thought that…" he whimpered and Sakura let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Placing his head on her chest "Im sorry Naruto… I know that was hard for you…"

He cried more violently now "I thought you would be like that forever…" his whole body shaking.

(Flash Back)

_The stench of blood was overwhelming as he carried Sakura through the abandoned hallways. Naruto held her delicately in his arms while Kakashi walked next to him trying to wake the girl up. "Sakura…" he had a hand on her cheek and occasionally tapped it. "were almost out" Gaara whispered Naruto nodded "You should take her out first…" Gaara nodded and took her from him. Frowning as he held her, she was barely skin and bones…_

_He tightened his hold on her and jumped up through a small hole in the ceiling and he was immediately bathed in light. He had almost forgotten the sweet taste of sunshine. It seemed that even the most beautiful things could be eaten away by evils in our world. Gaara ran until he was far enough away and at their original camp ground. He looked down at the girl in his arms. Her pink hair barely visible, black blood smeared all over her beaten body and drenched her hair. His blue eyes looked down at her with the smallest hint of sympathy. He heard rapid footsteps behind him and turned to see Naruto, Kakashi and Sai running towards him. Naruto helped Gaara gently lay her down on the ground and placed her head delicately in his hands, using this thumb to stroke her cheek. _

"_Sakura…" he whispered "Please wake up" She grunted. "Who…" she mumbled, pain filling her voice. _

"_Its me Naruto, Sakura…" he said pressing his forehead to hers. He felt her body stiffen in his arms. He felt a pulsing pain in his gut and went flying into a tree, looking up to see Sakura scrambling away from them. "Get away!" she screamed. Kakashi grabbed her shoulders "Sakura calm down it us!" she slammed her palms into his figure, even without chakra she still did severe damage. He grunted but didn't let go "Sakura what's wrong!!?" Naruto yelled and she flailed her arms frantically. At the sound of his voice she gritted her teeth "get away from me you bastard…" _

_Naruto froze._

_Sai placed his hand on her arm "Sakura your safe now!" but he was only greeted with a strong kick to the gut. Kakashi had since been thrown away from her. Gaara stepped forward "Haruno" he caught on of her fists. "do you know who I am?" _

"_G-Gaara!" she said immediately grasping his wrist. "please tell me its really you" she begged, bloody tears rolling down her cheeks. _

_He didn't answer, he lifted his hand and hit a nerve on her neck, she passed out and fell into Naruto's arms. _

_Most of the way back to Konaha was silent… they had stopped at a river and washed the blood off of her face, trying not to wake her up. Her eyes remained closed tightly, as if in pain. When they were close to the village, Sai asked if they should wake her up, so she could see that she was home. But Kakashi shook his head "let her sleep" _

_Naruto looked at him, their eyes locked for a moment, holding a hidden message that neither understood. Naruto looked back down at her, her eyes still shut tightly, even cringing now and then…but never opening…never…._

_-0o0o00oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-_

The fire warmed Sasuke to the bone, and he couldn't help but feel slightly happy at the idea of being back with his team, a warm feeling that sank into him like alcohol. The entire group had gone to sleep. Except for Sakura and himself. She would sometimes open her mouth as if to say something, then shut it again.

Finally after what seemed like hours, she spoke. "so…" she started.

Sasuke whipped his head up,

"i-is… is the weather… nice?" she asked, keeping her voice low so not to wake the others. He nodded. She waited. Sasuke could have slapped him self, "uh yeah…" he answered quickly… _she's blind retard._

"oh… what… what does it... what does it look like?" she sounded like a hungry child, deprived of something she had longed for.

He looked around, "well … its sort of Dark right now… there uh…are some yellow flowers everywhere, and… some trees" Mr. enthusiastic.

She nodded "you know…" she wrapped her arms around her legs "I really do miss seeing those things…" a smile formed in her lips. Sasuke strained to hear her whisperes and moved closer to her.

"I miss seeing the sky, and the ground, and my friends…" she took off her blind fold and rubbed the tears out of her eyes, never opening them. He reached a hand up to comfort her but stopped. He didn't want to push it.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you" she whispered

"Its all right Sakura" _I'm sorry too_

She sighed deeply, "you know… I've tried so hard not to let it get to me"

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, "I miss being able to see things… being able to go on missions, and be useful…"

An unhappy smile formed on her lips, "You know… before this all happened… I was so powerful… people knew and recognized me…" Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly as her voice went from sad to almost sadistic "and I did it without a demon, or a curse seal… I was useful for once in my entire fucking life… and one false move took that all away…."

Sasuke spoke up "you'll have your sight back soon" _you were always useful…_

She smiled "I wont bet on it… the only reason I came on this trip was to make Naruto feel better… and even if I did… I will never be able to catch up to everyone again…"

"Saku-"

"Im going to sleep now…" she cut in. He sighed and laid down. He could hear her slipping into her own bedroll and he could practically hear her heartbeat thumping rhythmically throughout the night. He looked up at the stars, too many to count… a magical sight.

And it hit him.

Like a brick wall slamming up against his face he finally understood what none of the others did. Sakura Haruno had reached her goal in life… just like he wanted to kill Itachi and Naruto wanted to be Hokage… Sakura became strong and recognizable… She became what she always wanted.

She completed her goal before any body else, and was proud of it… then, she had it all ripped away from her. Going from amazing to almost nothing in the blink of an eye…

Sasuke imagined what it would be like if he had killed Itachi and suddenly he came back from the dead, to massacre his loved ones again… his stomach twisted at the idea and he rolled onto his belly and looked at Sakura's form. She wasn't asleep.

"…"

"Im sorry Sakura"

… He didn't whisper

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

**Yaya! Wow this is the longest one I have ever done… anyway, Sakura's entire story will be reveiled soon, but im really excited about the next chapter!**


	6. Two Missions, One Road

**OMG! I LOVED YOUR REVIEWS! And I promised I would update every 20 reviews so here it is! Thanks again for reading!!!**

Sasuke imagined what it would be like if he had killed Itachi and suddenly he came back from the dead, to massacre his loved ones again… his stomach twisted at the idea and he rolled onto his belly and looked at Sakura's form. She wasn't asleep.

"…"

"Im sorry Sakura"

… He didn't whisper

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

They left before the sun and walked for hours, Naruto grimaced as he looked around, "who the hell would want to live in a swamp like this?"

In truth the place really was disgusting, their feet sank about an inch into the ground, mud and sludge coating their boots. Sakura covered her nose, the stench was almost overwhelming, it almost made her sick, but what frightened her the most, was that now she had last almost all of her senses. She couldn't smell anything in this environment and it frightened her. She demanded that Naruto hold her hand until they reached the two healers. He willingly complied.

The trees were too thick to jump onto and the mud soon turned into a swampy lake, going up to their thighs. Neji noticed an abundance of mushrooms and strange looking plants, even though the location wasn't ideal, this was a perfect spot to find healing herbs and medicines… so it made sense that they lived here.

"Look" Sai pointed up ahead at a small light. "that must be them"

Naruto smiled excitedly "lets hurry!" he lifted a leg forward to jump through the thick sludge but ended up falling flat on his face, he struggled to pull his face out of the mud and began panicking. Sakura pulled the back of his collar and lifted him out of the mud with ease. He thanked her loudly proclaiming that without her help he surely would have died in that dark abyss of muck. She smiled and kept walking. It was a large building… not befitting of its location, the walls were clean and whitewashed, almost gleaming in this dark swamp. A large wooden door was bolted shut, and overgrown with vines. Neji walked up to it, placing his finger along the seam of the door "it can only be opened by it owners.. very clever" he said.

"couldn't Sakura just smash it down," Naruto asked wiping the mud off of his face. Neji shook his head "its Chakra proof… making this door wasn't cheap…"

"heloooooo tha!" a squeaky voice interrupted them. They looked up to see a window with an old woman's head popping out of it. They all stared back blankly at the old woman. Her silver hair was tied up in a bun on the top of her head, and her eyes were squinted almost shut. "why you must all be from the big Konaha village yes?" Neji nodded "we got your letter a few days ago and came as soon as possible.

She nodded "well that's mighty fine of you all! And im guessing the little pink girl is our patient?" she smiled pointing a wrinkled finger at Sakura. Naruto nodded.

"well that's wundaful! Why don't you all come on up here! My sisters cookin up a fine suppah for our new guests!"

Neji thanked them and looked towards the front door. "Oh don't go through that old thing, its such a trouble to open! Just come on up through the winda!" she waved for them to come in. Neji nodded and jumped up to the window ledge followed by Sai. Naruto took Sakura's hands and jumped up with her. Sasuke paused before jumping. He stared at the door, he had seen some like it before… Orochimaru had several… and if they belonged to you… they were very easy to open… so why didn't the old woman just open it? Naruto called out to him "hurry your ass teme!"

Sasuke shook off his thoughts and jumped up. The room was warm and filled with spices and flowers hanging on the walls. The old woman helped Sakura sit down and her sister was mixing soup in a cauldron. The two old ladies were twins and there really was no way to tell them apart. "so…" said the old woman at the cauldron "Im Tia! And my sister over there is Mia! We sent you that letter as soon as we heard of your plight!" Naruto smiled "Im Naruto" "I'm Sai, its very nice to meet you" "Im Neji" "Sasuke…" Im Sakura" she smiled nervously. Naruto craned his neck to look into the cauldron an his smile broadened as he beheld the sight of a fine looking stew.

Tia poured the soup into several bowls and handed one to each person. They all sat down on large cushions all in a circle. "well then we better discuss the issue at hand… so , the healing will be nice and fast, and will start it later tonight…. And-' Sakura but them off.

"what about side affects?" she asked placing her hands in her lap.

"oh uh, none of those dear" they smiled.

"which relievers will you be using?"

"oh uh, we have some mushrooms that will do the trick!"

"pain?"

"not much"

"what about tools?"

"all we need are our hands"

"any incisions?"

"any what?"

Sakura's shoulders tensed "an incision… meaning will you be cutting or removing any flesh…"

"Oh no deary! We don't need to do that! Just a quick peek into your eyes and we should be able to fix it!"

Sasuke eyed Sakura, she knew something they didn't…

Naruto swallowed down his soup, and immediately extended his hands asking for more.

The night went by slowly, filled with pointless idle chatter, but at one point as they all sat around the fire one of the old ladies stood. "well I think we should get this show on the road ay?" she turned to her sister who nodded in agreement. Naruto nodded "so where do we go?"

"Oh you can wait outside deary, it'll only be a moment" she waved a wrinkled hand at him as signal to leave. He stood up unsurely but was pulled forcefully back down by Sakura. 

Neji placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder "we would prefer it if at least one of us stayed here…" Sasuke eyed the two women, their ever cheerful smiles never left their faces.

"Well! What a young gentleman!" she put her hands on her hips "but we cant have you in here, it's a special jutsu that's a little personal, and for it to work, we need to be in solitude" Her sister nodded in agreement. Neji paused then finally nodded "all right…" he signaled the group to leave. Sakura clenched her fists together and one of the healers smiled "oh don't worry darling! Wont hurt a bit!"

Sakura forced a smile "I'm sorry … I'm just a little nervous…"

Naruto seemed fine with the entire thing "don't worry Sakura well be right outside… and in a few hours, you'll be able to see again!" he squeezed her hand and jumped out the window followed by the rest of the group. Sasuke turned to her, he could have said something comforting, soothing… or even kind…but the avenger in him held him back… and it sickened him.

When he landed on the ground next to Naruto they group all sat around a new fire, Sai sat painting something onto a scroll, he seemed completely absorbed in it and didn't even acknowledge their existence. Sasuke was about to sit down next to Neji when something caught his eye. A glimmer in one of the trees… it blinked… one, two three times… Sasuke felt his heart rip in half…

He turned to Naruto "I have to go to the forest… ill be right back" Neji eyed him "what for?"

Naruto smacked Neji's head "he has to piss ya moron!" Neji craned his neck towards Naruto "don't ever do that again fox-boy!" The blonde fumed "shut fag!"

"fag?!"

"Yah heard me!"

Sasuke had already left.

The woods were quiet, not even the crickets were chirping on this desolate evening. Sasuke saw the glimmer again, this time it was closer, "Its me" Sasuke whispered.

"Ah Sasuke-kun… long tome so see" The voice was dripping with poison as it reached Sasuke's ears.. a poison he had once been addicted to. The poison called power. And when he came back to Konaha… he had almost freed himself of that addiction…

But of course they were always one step ahead of him…

"Hello Kabuto…"

"Orochimaru's getting impatient… is the mission going well?"

"... just as planned"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura laid down onto a bed and exhaled. They had taken her blindfold off and left the room for a moment. She felt her palms sweating, her gut told her to run, but a part of her wanted to see so desperately that she was compelled to stay. She had to do this, for Naruto, Sai, Gaara, Neji, Tsunade… they all had taken care of her, and she had become a burden to them… again…

The healers entered the room walking slowly up to her, and stood on either side of her. "How long will this take?" Sakura asked unsurely.

They didn't answer. She felt them put their hands over her eyes and begin to invade them. White hot chakra burning her facem she could feel blood pouring out of her eyes. Sakura tensed up. She knew this… they had done it to her before…

Her immediate instinct was to attack, but her body was numb and with each movement she attempted to make she felt her skin rip open from the inside, she tried to scream but she couldn't. She felt pain pulsing through her head, memories being ripped from her skull. Their hands sadistically savoring in her pain.

Their hands lifted and she felt her arms and legs mobile again… "open your eyes" said a familiar voice… 'Naruto?' she thought . She clenched her eyes shut. She knew this technique, it was their favorite… "open them Sakura" She gritted her teeth as her eyelids flung open, the world around her was a blur, billions of colors swirling around, yellow, blue, black, orange, white… but mostly red. She could see blood everywhere, all of it was her own. Ss her eyes began to focus… Naruto's familiar face peered down at her, his unmistakable blue eyes piercing her. And to her left was Sasuke, his emotionless face framed perfectly by his dark hair. Sakura had longed to see their faces for years, but this wasn't right, it wasn't even them… Naruto sat her upright smiling seductively. "how do you feel Sakura?"

She felt her heart race as she tried to answer, but fear overcame her and she choked on her blood. Sasuke began to slide his hand along her thigh, as Naruto kissed her neck.

"we missed you Sakura-chan" Sasuke whispered as her slipped her shorts down to her knees. Naruto moaned in agreement. Sakura felt tears running down her cheeks as Naruto lifted her shirt. The two of them invaded her in every way they could thing of. Naruto sat behind her fondling her while Sasuke reached his hand into her underwear and explored her. Sakura began to move, kicking her legs wriggling around. She tried to scream but Naruto covered her mouth with his own, as Sasuke whispered into her hear, "didn't you miss us Sakura?" She screamed into Naruto's mouth then bit down hard onto his lip, piercing the skin. He flung his head back and slapped her "damn bitch!" They pushed her down onto the bed spreading apart her legs.

**No!**

she felt their nails digging into her flesh.

**Do something Sakura!**

Blood running down her legs

**Do Something!!!**

She focused her chakra and shot it into her legs.

**YES!**

She kicked Sasuke in the face sending him flying. She used her other leg to hoist herself up and jump out of their reach. Naruto grabbed a lock of her hair but she ripped away pushing him into Sasuke. She pulled on her clothes as quickly as possible and gathered her chakra in her fist. Her vision began to fade, the corners of her eyes going dark, she only had a few more seconds of vision left. She gritted her teeth and punched the wall, making a window to the outside, her last glimpse of vision showed her the forest…

She ran… and didn't stop running ... even as it began to rain.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up "did you guys hear something? He asked the others. Sasuke was still in the woods. The rest shook their heads. He eyed the house.

Screaming

This time they all heard it, Naruto stood up "that's Sakura!!" The heard some bangs and then a loud crash, the entire building shook. Within an instant they were all inside the building. "which room are they in!?" Sai asked. Neji pointed to a door on their left. Naruto kicked it down.

When they entered the room they saw blood spattered on the walls, and two figures slumped over in the corner. Naruto clenched his fists "where is she?!?" one of them looked up at him and Naruto's eyes widened.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke walked back to the building, the area the group had been sitting in was empty, He hear noises coming from the inside… He jumped up onto the window ledge calmly…. Expecting to see Naruto and Sasuke smiling happily, the whole thing had been a success. What he didn't expect to see was an exact copy of himself and Naruto… only Sasuke looked younger, He looked they way he did four years ago. Neji had the two copies tied up, they had obviously taken several hits from someone, probably Naruto…

"Sasuke where the fuck have you been?!?" Naruto yanked his collar, his eyes had lost their blue sparkle and now glinted red. Sasuke gave him a confused look. "where's Sakura?"

That question again,… they same question he asked when he first entered Konaha. Naruto had shown him, shown him that she was blind… how much worse could it get? Sasuke regretted asking that cursed question, would Sakura be dead? Naruto glared at him more fiercely. "They" he pointed to the copies who smirked devilishly. "They…." He gritted his teeth "Those bastards**… they fucking raped her!"**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I AM SOOOO FUCKING EVIL!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Sorry, don't hate (:

Hands out apology cookies.


	7. A Promise

**Ok people, my goal is to get to 100 reviews with this chapter , I only need like 25 more so PLEASE review! If a get enough, I will write another fluff scene with some clues in it in the next chapter, that scene isn't necessary so I could get away with not writing it (: ooh im ebil**

**Love ya!**

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

"They" he pointed to the copies who smirked devilishly. "They…." He gritted his teeth "Those bastards**… they fucking raped her!"**

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

For those of you who didn't really understand the last chapter, pretty much what happened was Sasuke is still in league with Orochimaru and whiles he's in the woods, the "healers" fix Sakura's sight but only for a moment, then they transform into Naruto and Sasuke, her two closest people, and torture her, they didn't rape her then but they obviously have before. They almost raped her then but she escaped into the forest and lost her sight again. Also , when they transform into Sasuke and Naruto, they look the way they did four years ago, because that was the last time Sakura saw them. I just gave you a HUGE hint to something…. (:

So now its raining and Sakura is running around in the swamp blind! Now our team of hotties has to interrogate the imposters, find the REAL healers, and find Sakura. Hmmm… I SMELL FLUFF!!!!

**Finally… the moment you have all been waiting for!!! In this chapter… there will be…. FLUFF!!!!**

Sakura ran as fast as she could, twigs, thorns and branches slapped her face slicing open her flesh even more than it already was. Her hands stretched desperately out in front of her. She felt her salty tears rolling down her face mixing with the rain that stung her wounds. Her feet stuck in the ground and she took off her boots leaving them abandoned in the mud. She kept running, crying and breathing. She didn't know where she was going, she just wanted to run so far away that the world forgot about her, she wanted to be swallowed up by the sea so she would never have to live again… Her foot caught on a root and she fell forward, crying out in pain and misery.

The mud covered her arms and legs, she had stopped bleeding and the rain had washed most of it away… but she knew her clothes were still stained… she could smell the blood. She lay, sprawled out on the ground for a moment, the mud slowly swallowing her up.

"heh.." a small flicker of voice barely audible, but she caught it. She bolted up straining her ears. Someone was here… someone she had met before…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Neji stared at the hole in the wall, He had used his Byakugan too late, Sakura had gone too far, even for his sight. "She must have been running pretty fast to get this far away…" Neji said calmly, he turned to see Sasuke and Naruto standing right behind him. Sasuke's emotionless face struggling to keep still. "Ill go get her…"

"ill go too…" Naruto spoke up.

Neji nodded, "Naruto you should look over there, by those caves, she may have hidden there, and Sasuke you-"

They darted in different directions running as fast as they could fathom. Neji sighed… the bonds radiating off of that team were as thick as chains… even though they all claim to have broken them… they still existed. Hiding in the deepest parts of their hearts.

POOF

Sai gasped and Neji turned to see dead bodies sitting in the middle of the room. "Sai what happened?" Neji hurried next to him. "The were clones… made from corpses" Sai struggled to frown, trying his best to imitate what emotions he thought he should be displaying. Neji frowned for real and examined the bodies. "I think were in for more than we can handle Sai…"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

'Sakura'

He ran, and ran and ran…

'Sakura'

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted her boots lying abandoned in the mud, without a thought he threw the muddy shoes into his pack and kept running… he was close.

'Sakura'

There she was, his calm façade had completely disappeared as he looked at her helpless form, she turned in his direction. He looked up to see the outline of someone walking away. 'Kabuto…' he thought angrily as he watched his disappearing figure. Sakura sat motionless, almost as if playing dead. Sasuke took a step closer to her "Sakura its me…" She backed away panicking as the thick mud constricted her movement. "Don't be afraid Sakura, it really is me… I wont let them hurt you again…" his voice was filled with sincerity, but Sakura wouldn't have any of it. She stood up as his hand reached her shoulder, turning and running again. "No Sakura Stop!" He reached for her as she jumped out of his way. He ran after her calling out to her. He reached a hand out and grasped the side of her shirt yanking it back and pulling her along with it. He finally pinned her down on the ground. Delicately holding her head out of the mud. "Sakura please…" he whispered into her ear "its me…" Sakura screamed as he lifted her up "let me go!!!" she flailed her arms trying to hit him. Her chakra had been almost completely drained from running so fast and now it was only a matter of moments before she passed out. "Sakura stop it its me!" he wrapped his arms around her, surrounding her with warmth. Her muscles relaxed as her mind began to stop spinning. "S-Sasuke…" he placed a hand on the back of her head and held her closer. "I'm here Sakura…" she began to shake again, crying softly into his white shirt. "they… they looked like you… they wanted to-" he didn't want to hear it, he didn't want to hear what they could have done to her… because he knew… that he couldn't have helped her… he wouldn't have been there to rescue her. "They looked just like you… the entire time… they just played with my head…" Sasuke held her tighter, burying his face in her shoulder, his face burning with shame. "please…" she begged. Sasuke shut his eyes tightly, holding her as close as humanly possible. Yes. Yes to whatever she asks, 'Ill do anything for you' Whatever she wants, I owe it to her…

"Please…" She cried "don't leave me again…" the words stained the air like ink and sank down into the thick black mud.

His muscles flinched and his grip on her loosened… 'no' he thought. He grasped her shoulders and pushed her away from him. Sakura made no sound, he tears silently flowing down her cheeks. Sasuke backed slowly away from her.

"Please Sasuke! Done leave me!" she begged as she fell onto her knees. Sasuke turned his face away, he didn't want to see her… he wouldn't promise her something like that… because he knew it could never happen… he would always be leaving her. She cried "Please Sasuke! Please don't leave me here!!! Just … just take me back to Konaha… to that fucking room where Ill spend the rest of my life… Just get me away from here…" he voice was drenched with fear… fear of those men who had attacked her… fear of the forest.. and fear of Sasuke… He turned around and walked away from her, she cried more frantically, putting her bloodied up face in her hands crying out in agony, both physical and mental. Sasuke walked until he couldn't hear her cries anymore, He found Naruto desperately searching the caves and waved to him "I found her" Naruto jumped towards him "where is she? Why isn't she with you?" he looked around him as if to see if she was hiding behind him "She was too afraid to let me near her, she told me to get you," He pointed in the direction she was in and Naruto darted towards her at full speed. Sasuke could only watch as his two teammates were left to help themselves … again…

Some teammate he was…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"SAKURA!!!" he called out as he ran "Sakura-chan!!! Where are you?!?!" he headr her voice behind him, a barely audible whisper, withering away in the rain "N-naruto?" He scanned the area for pink, but all he found was red... "Sakura!" He ran towards her and kneeled in front of her "Oh my god Sakura" he immediately picked her up, his eyes overflowed with tears. "Sakura I'm here now, its ok…" Sakura sobbed onto his orange shirt. "Ill take you home now… I promise" he whispered. "I promise"

She smiled lightly, she needed a promise.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Tsunade drummed her fingers on her desk, her sake bottles lay empty on the floor. Her pink cheeks glowed as the sunlight touched them through her window. It was a beautiful day in Konaha, warm air and cool breeze, complimented by butterflies and flowers, children had been excused from school to savor in such a rare day… But no matter how much alcohol Tsunade swallowed down, she didn't smile. She remembered a previous day like this… several years ago…

-flash back-

"_Sensei!" cried a sweet but forceful voice from behind a wooden door. _

_Tsunade jumped and threw her Sake bottle under her desk quickly resuming her work. "WHO THE HELL IS IT!?!?" _

_The door burst open and a pink haired ball of energy burst into the room "SENSEI WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" Tsunade sighed in relief, only Sakura. She eyed her for a moment noticing her normal fighting clothes were changed to regular day clothes, a simple pair of white shorts and a red tank with her usual Haruno symbol on the front._

"_Just catching up on some work Sakura…" She pulled out her sake and continued drinking. "ahhhhh…" Sakura sighed heavily as she leaned on Tsunade's desk, "how about you take a break from that for today?" _

_Tsunade raised an eyebrow as she swallowed down some of her sacred nectar, savoring in the burning sensation as it slithered down her throat. "and why would I do that Sakura?" The pink haired girl smiled brightly "have you even looked out the window today? I haven't seen a day this nice in my entire life!" Sakura walked over to the curtains and thrust them aside. Tsunade smiled as a cool breeze tickled her skin, calling her outdoors. Sakura placed her hands on her hips and turned to her sensei. "well what do you say?" Tsunade looked longingly out the window "oh… I don't know Sakura…" _

"_PLEASE!!!!!!!?" Sakura begged. Tsunade frowned "I … I don't know.." Sakura frowned "guh… I didn't want to have to resort to this but…" She looked her teacher dead in the eye, a serious glare that meant business "If you take the day off with me … ill drink with you…" Tsunade smiled standing up triumphantly "YOU HAD ME AT __**DRINK**__!" The two women grinned devilishly at each other and turned on their heels bursting through the hallway and racing out the door. _

_The sun shone in the sky, white milky clouds billowing around them as they lay on the grass. Tsunade poured Sakura another glass of sake and watched proudly as she quickly swallowed it down, apparently Sakura had more drinking experience than she had originally assumed. "So Sakura…" _

"_hmm?" She fell down onto the grass closing her eyes. _

"_why aren't you with your friends?" Tsunade, even though she would never admit it, had very few friends…and she always thought, that if she ever had as many friends as Sakura did, she would spend every minute of her time with them, nothing was more depressing than drinking alone.. and she did it almost every day…. But for some reason whenever Sakura took a break from studying or training, she would drag Tsunade out of her office and spend the day with her, usually shopping, or eating, or even just laying on the grass enjoying the weather. Sakura sat up "well I can hang out with them on the weekends…besides" She smiled "I think I have more in common with you, Your one of my closest friends Tsnunade!" Tsunade smiled as she looked at her student. Those eyes… those apple green eyes…_

_If she had only known that was the last time she would every see them…_

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**Ok I know this chapter was EXTREMELY short, but hey… I do what I can. Oh and my apologies again for my horrible skills in writing… Gugh… I need to work harder in English…**


	8. Words That Count

Sorrry!! I know it took me FORVER to update so im gonna make this chapter extra long! And I was going back reading my last chapter over again and a realized how many spelling and grammar mistakes I made!! I felt like shooting myself in the face!! So I will probably go back later on and rewrite it… ): And not that summer vacasion has started for me I will be able to write more often,. And brainstorm a little better (; so anyway, I AM SOOOOO SORRY !!

**Hands Out Taquitos **

Please take one of these Taquitos as a symbol of my apologies…

"**Sakura!" He ran towards her and kneeled in front of her "Oh my god Sakura" he immediately picked her up, his eyes overflowed with tears. "Sakura I'm here now, its ok…" Sakura sobbed onto his orange shirt. "Ill take you home now… I promise" he whispered. "I promise" **

**She smiled lightly, she needed a promise. **

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sai looked around the house with skeptical eyes "this was well thought out…"

Neji nodded slowly "they went to great lengths to try and get to her… Sending the letter, acting as healers… even this location-"

"no" Sai cut him off. "they didn't chose this location… this really is a healers house…and I don't think the letter was a fake…" He held a paintbrush delicately between his thumb and forefinger and waved it around slyly.

Neji eyed him. "How do you figure?"

"I sent my mice on a little mission" he held up a scroll with three little black mice painted onto it. Neji's eyes widened as he remembered how earlier Sai had sat down by the fire and painted away. "The moment they asked us to leave I became suspicious… so I decided to send my mice to explore…" Neji almost smiled but his pride would never let him do such a thing, so he nodded sternly "did they find anything?"

Sai nodded and flashed a falsetto look of seriousness "the healers"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto carried her back to the house, holding her delicately in his arms and scanning the area for anything suspicious. The thick black mud covered most of his and Sakura's bodies and rain poured down into his eyes blinding him. But he ignored these things and kept on moving… swamps were a dangerous place… especially at night, and now they had some sociopaths after Sakura who were currently roaming free. The thought of them made Naruto sick and he looked down at Sakura tightening his grip on her for a moment to let her know that she wasn't alone anymore…

Sakura hadn't stopped crying, or shaking, and sometimes she would scream out as if in pain. He would whisper comforting words to her, like he used to when she first became blind…

Sakura's body would stiffen and she would yell out in pain grabbing Naruto's shirt.

"Shhh… Sakura… Its all ok… is all ok now" She would relax a little. Such simple words were sometimes the best things in the world to hear… Naruto continued to whisper words to her, listening to her heart beat as it frantically jumped around in her chest.

-o-o-flashback-o-o-

_BANG!  
BANG!  
BANG!_

_Naruto flung out of bed landing flat on his face "w-who is it?!" he grumbled as he sat up. _

"_Naruto!" It was Ino. _

_Naruto grumbled crude words and slowly made his way to the door, she continued to bang on it "shut up Ino! I'm opening it! Jeez!" he begrudgingly unlocked his door "what is it Ino?" _

_She looked exhausted… her eyes were red and puffy, and she obviously hadn't showered lately. Her blue eyes looked at him frantically "Its Sakura!" Naruto stiffened as he was suddenly shook back into reality …three days ago… Sakura had been brought back… he had almost forgotten. _

"_she's screaming again and this time worse than usual! She wont let anyone near her not even Tsunade!" Ino was holding one of her arms and Naruto noticed a deep red swelling… Sakura must have hit her…Naruto nodded and disappeared in a poof. _

_Naruto raced towards the hokages tower at full speed. He knew exactly where her room was. He had been there countless times in the past three days. Trying time and again to get close to her… trying to help her…_

_He ran down the long hallway, his bare feet slamming down onto the wooden floors. "there!" he ran to the all too familiar door and flung it open. The sound of screaming filled his ears, crying out unknown names and begging for mercy. He would have given anything to have his ears ripped off. Tsunade turned to him "Naruto! Finally! We've tried everything! But this ones the worst, She's not letting anyone near her." Tsunade coaxed him forward "she's in there Naruto but be careful… she's… a little more violent tonight.." Tsunade faced Naruto and he held back a gasp. One of her eyes was swollen and remnants of blood could be seen on her shirt, Sakura had obviously put up a fight. _

_Naruto opened the door slowly, his eyes landing on her starved figure. Whoever had been keeping her… must have never fed her… her ribs could be clearly seen, even through the baggy shirt Naruto had given her. She sat in the corner of the room screaming into her hands begging unknown figures to just kill her. "kill me just kill me please!" _

"_Sakura" She stiffened clenching her fists defensively. _

"_G-Gaara?" she asked. Gaara had left two days ago…for some reason he was the only one she would let remotely near her…but he needed to get back to his village… he was the Kazekage after all…_

"_Its Me… Naruto…" he whispered, he was now just arms length away from her. She began screaming again, only this time more violently "get away!" Naruto desperately tried to dodge her attacks, he could practically feel her chakra pulsing off of her fists as they barely missed his face. "Sakura please! Let me help you!" one of her fists caught his shoulder and Naruto screamed out falling forward in pain. He grabbed his shoulder and looked up at her, "Sakura" he was only inches away from her, his tears falling onto her arm. "why wont you…" he turned his head away from her as he felt rage building up inside him, he could feel his arms act on their own accord. His hands flew forwards grabbing her shoulders and slamming her into the wall, the plaster behind her cracked and pieces began to crumble around her. She froze and fear filled her face as she kicked him directly in the gut screaming again in fear. But he didn't let go, he felt his teeth begin to sharpen and his eyes burning with the kyuubi's Chakra, He presses his forehead to hers his blood red eyes releasing waterfalls of tears. "LET ME IN SAKURA!!" He screamed. Sakura froze in his grip light gasps escaping her mouth. The commotion they had caused caught the attention of several people and Tsunade burst through the door "Naruto!" She stopped, not daring to get close to the boy and girl… their auras were black hot and almost burned her skin as she neared them. "LET ME IN DAMNIT!! I CANT HELP YOU LIKE THIS!!" tears fell onto Sakura's blindfold and she gasped… but not a gasp of fear…_

_Naruto cried "Sakura you have to let me in… Please… I just want you back" She lifted her hand and Naruto flinched expecting a blow to the head… but it never came. He opened his eyes to see her hands searching around for him, one of her hands touched his cheek… and slowly rubbed away some of his tears…_

"_they never cried…" she whispered. _

"_Sakura?" he sat up taking her hand in his. _

_Her body quivered for a moment, "I… Naruto… are you…" she cried as she struggled to get the words out of her mouth. She fell forward onto him crying and saying his name. He looked down at her and held her closely "its ok Sakura… Its all ok now" His tears fell onto her and mixed with her own. She slowly relaxed as he repeated those same words over and over again…_

_Three days ago she had been returned to him… and three seconds ago she had come back to him…_

_She fell asleep listening to him speak…he refused to leave her for the next few days. And for several months she wouldn't go near anyone unless Naruto was there with her…_

"_Its all ok now… Sakura" _

_-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Sasuke walked slowly towards the house he could see Naruto just entering it, carrying Sakura in his arms. He was in no hurry to get back… The last thing he wanted to do was spook Sakura and have her screaming up a storm again… She was so troublesome to him. Before, she was fawning all over him, stuck to him like glue. And now… she would scream and cry anytime he came within three feet of her…He thought of the two men who had transformed themselves to look like Naruto and himself… the thought sickened him. The things they must have done to her… the horrible things. Naruto looked up at the window as he prepared to jumped, he said something to Sakura and she nodded in response. She tightened her grip on his shoulders.

Sasuke felt a pinch in his stomach as he watched from a distance as Naruto jumped up through the window and into the house with Sakura clinging onto him tightly. Her eyes were shut and her knuckles white from gripping his shirt so tightly. An image of her being tortured by two men who looked liked people that she had loved filled his mind and his breath hitched in his throat. He shook his head to get rid of the vivid image. Looking up he sighed as he climbed through the window.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"what do you mean?" Neji sat down next to him. Sai looked up "I mean that I found the real healers… the ones who sent us that letter…" Sai's emotionless face remained void of feelings. Neji let his words sink in, "so the healers were real… well where are they?!"

Sai pointed down, "I don't know the details other than they are down there… and alive at least…" Neji gave a frustrated growl and Sai raised his hands defensively "hey there's only so much a bunch of painted rats can tell me ok?" there was a loud thump and Naruto jumped into the room, mud and rain pooled around his feet. "Naruto!" Neji looked up at him. Sai stood up "where did you find her?" Naruto shook his head as he set her down near the fire " I didn't, Sasuke did" Sakura stiffened at the mention of his name. Neji threw a thick blanked over her "what do you mean? Why isn't he with you?" Naruto stripped off his shirt "he said she was afraid of him, I'm not sure where he is…" Neji gritted his teeth and ran towards the window. He activated his sharingan and looked around. "there he is…" he whispered. "He's on his way here" he turned "Sai come with me to find the healers and Naruto stay here with Sakura and wait for Sasuke..." Naruto blinked "the healers?"

Sai wrapped up his scroll and tucked it behind his pack "don't worry about dumbass" he flashed a toothy grin that Naruto was far too familiar with "You bastard!" He growled and lunged at him but Neji grabbed his arm and gave him a stern look "not now…" Naruto nodded stiffly and yanked his arm out of Neji's grasp. "there's probably a door to the cellar downstairs.. which most likely is where they are…" Neji nodded and followed Sai down the stairs to the first level. Naruto sighed and turned to Sakura, she was asleep. She was sopping wet and covered with a thick layer of mud and if he wasn't careful she might get sick. He walked quietly towards her and heaved her into a sitting position. Unzipping the front of her shirt he pulled the damp material away from her skin. Three years ago, Naruto would be unable to do this without getting a bloody nose and passing out. But that was then, and this was now. When he had first found her, she was barely clothed, and he had to dress and change her himself. He had thought nothing of it, all he could think of was how he had failed her. He leaned her against him as he wrung out her shirt and threw it over the arm of a chair and Proceeded to take off her skirt.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke trudged towards the house, if he didn't return they would go looking for him and he preferred if that didn't happen. He had managed to stay mostly clean, only getting a good soaking. But then again he didn't mind that, the feeling of water rushing over him always relaxed him. After he left Konaha he would sometimes stand out in the rain for hours, washing away his emotions. And right now the last thing he needed was emotions. He was on a mission, he wasn't here for them…

He looked up at the window, his vacant eyes pausing for only a fraction of a second before he jumped through the window with lightning speed. He landed silently, the only noise he made was from the large droplets of water falling off of him. He slowly lifted him head and had planned on saying something like 'so you found her' or perhaps 'sorry I took so long' or maybe just a casual 'Hn…" but no. No words left his lips when he saw the scene before him.

Naruto sat Indian style with a half naked Sakura leaning against his bare chest. Naruto turned to him and for the first time in his life, he immediately understood the situation he was in.

Naruto froze 'oh balls..'

Sasuke would have stuttered but years of training had taught him to do otherwise… so he gritted his teeth and took a slow step forward. "Naruto…" it was barely audible, so quiet that Naruto wondered if he had even spoken it "S-s-s-s-sasuke… l-let me explain! I was Ju-"

Sasuke was now kneeling in front of them "you were just what?" Sasuke's eyes turned an intimidating shade of red and glared at the blonde.

Naruto shrank back "She passed out, and if I didn't, she-she f-fever, and I, well, not like it's the first time an-"

"What?!" Sasuke growled "you've done this before?" Sasuke reached for Sakura but Naruto only tightened his grip. "No Sasuke! She's safer with me!" Sasuke narrowed his eyes "oh that's obvious! After you strip her down to nothing but her sports bra and under shorts! Real safe dobe!" he grasped her shoulders yanking her away from him. Naruto pulled her back "stop it she'll wake up!!" he whispered "not any more" Sasuke pressed his hand to her neck and a light gasp escaped her throat before she fell back into a deep sleep. "there" he said as he pulled her away from him. Naruto narrowed his eyes "you dick!" He lunged at Sasuke wrapping his arms around Sakura while using his feet to kick Sasuke to the other side of the room. Sasuke hit the wall with a loud thud and looked up at Naruto through his black bangs. "Naruto do Not test me…" he growled as he grabbed Sakura's arm "give her to me"

"No!" Naruto pulled away again.

"Dobe!"

"Teme!"

The two then began a wrestling match with a passed out Sakura in the middle… Literally.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

THUD!

Sai looked up "what was that?"

Neji shook his head "probably Naruto doing something stupid… help me with this"

Sai turned back and nodded. They had found the two healers tied up and hidden in the basement and were currently untying them. They looked exactly like the first healers they had met, old, sisters, and twins…

And after they had untied their gags, Neji professionally explained the situation. "well we gathered that much!" one of them said and a raspy high pitched voice. "why, I was so worried about your little blind girl! Talking 'bout doin' something horribly wrong ta her!"

The other one nodded "horrible people's they was…"

Neji cut the last of the ropes "well unfortunately they were able to capture her, and were not entirely sure as to what exactly they did…" a glint of shame flashed through Neji's pearl eyes for only a moment "but she's safe now, but those men got away…."

"well is she all right?" They asked. Sai smiled "we'll take you to her now"

-o-o-o-o-

Neji walked slowly up the stairs, occasionally sharing a glace with Sai, a look of confusion on both of their faces. 'what's that noise?' Sai mouthed. Neji shrugged in response. As they neared the door a feeling of dread filled Neji as the bangs, thuds and grunts became louder. Neji swallowed as he opened the door.

"What the?!"

The sight before them was something Sai thought he would never EVER see and he quickly whipped out his emotions book and skimmed through the pages. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto tangled together in a rather awkward and inappropriate position, half naked, on the floor. Naruto wearing only some wet shorts, Sakura, a sports bra and her usual black shorts, and Sasuke with the top of his shirt ripped off and his pants hanging loosely around his hips.

"heavens!" one of the women shrieked.

Neji stood completely frozen, staring at the two men who were currently still as rocks, and staring right back.

There was a long silent pause…

Sai closed his book and examined the scene before him one more time before speaking.

Another pause…

"So… Is this what's called… a threesome?"

ALLRIGHT!! YEAH!!

Got a little dirty there didn't it?? AMIRITE?!

So anyway, please review, I really love those and it helps if you throw in any useful tips or ideas, im open to pretty much anything (:

Anyway thanks for reading and a promise to update sooner!!


	9. When We Found Her

**Ok , thanks sooooo much for all your awesome reviews! Now I usually update every 20 reviews but I made an exception because the past chapter sort of sucked. But this time, if you favemy story or use in it a C2, or even alert it, PLEASE review, it's a nice thing to do (: **

**Because if the love doesn't start here, then where?**

**OK!! So im done talking! Here it is!!**

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

Sais' remark floated in the air for a brief moment before it was quickly logged away as one of Sais' usual antics. Neji on the other hand took one slow step forward, a small gesture that only someone who had traveled with him before could understand. It was a command of sorts… an inquisition as to what the fuck they were doing. Sasuke quickly analyzed the situation, Sakura's head and arms lay across his belly, his own hand grasping the straps of her under shirt, lifting it dangerously higher, and the other grabbing her arm. Naruto on the other hand, was in a far worse position, his left arm was wrapped tightly around her stomach with his right yanking Sasuke's pants even further down than they already were. But that wasn't even the worst part, while the fact that Naruto was wearing the least clothing out of all of them was bad enough, the fact that he was tightly gripping the hem of her under shorts with his **teeth** was even worse.

Yes… Sasuke understood immediately. And the look in Naruto's eyes' showed the same realization. Neji took another step, narrowing his eyes just the slightest degree. Naruto quickly took in a deep breath and jumped up taking Sakura along with him. He held her shoulders hand 'handed' her to Neji as if she were a peace offering. "N-N-N-Neji! W-we! We just were-" Neji flicked his hand signaling Sai to him, Sai quickly complied and took Sakura from Naruto. Naruto swallowed, he was an open target now…

"Neji! I promise I didn't- WE didn't- I mean, you know I wouldn't!, and I-" Neji's lips twitched for a moment and Naruto silenced himself. "I don't really want to know what you were doing Naruto… but don't let him happen again" Neji's eyes glanced quickly at Sasuke who still sat on the floor quite disheveled. Sasuke barely caught a glimpse of what that look held, it was calculating and cool, as if Neji was questioning Sasuke…

Naruto breathed a loud sigh of relief and relaxed his shoulders, He glanced at Neji and then back to Sasuke who was currently fixing his clothes. Why hadn't Neji done anything?

Naruto stood up and shook his head, shaking the water droplets from himself. He watched as Sakura was placed carefully on the floor, her head in one of the healers laps. One healer practically tore off her blue shawl and threw it over Sakura, giving Naruto and Sasuke a stern look. Naruto smiled sheepishly while Sasuke chose to ignore.

The old woman lightly slapped Sakuras' cheek. "wake up dear" she whispered but got no response. Sai towered over them, he was unfamiliar with this new feeling, his hands clenched into fists and a lump in his thought prevented him from swallowing… he couldn't decipher the feeling from worry or anger… He looked up at Naruto "why isn't she waking up?"

Sasuke stumbled for a moment and quickly whipped his head up. But Naruto stepped forward, "she passed out in the rain… probably from stress…" Narutos' blue eyes never once looked at Sasuke, but he could tell by the way his hands clasped to his sides, that Naruto wanted to say more. Sai nodded and turned to the healers, "so what now?" The one holding Sakura's head looked up, "well we should wait until tomorrow to start anything, I think we are all very tired here…" The other nodded "she should stay in hear with us, we'll take care a her fo ya…" Sai smiled politely, "thank you, but at least two of us would have to stay with her…" Neji nodded "just to be safe"

The healers nodded understandingly "Of course of course!, Ill have my sister go get some blankets from the closet fo yall to sleep on!" Naruto stood up "ill go get our stuff from outside" he clambered into the window frame.

"what on earth are you doin that fo?" one of them dramatically placed her bony hands on her chubby hips. Naruto blinked and pointed down "The… door is broken…" Neji paused for a brief moment then turned to the healers "the false healers… said the door was broken… I'm guessing-" they finished for him "It's a chakra door dear, only **we** can unlock it, its no surprise that they were unable to get through"

One of them laughed a little "you mean they had you jumpin through windows this entire time?" Naruto turned red "well then I guess I can use the door now…" he stood up and walked briskly to the stairs. Sasuke stood in the corner of the room watching, Naruto paused in the doorway when Neji called his name "Naruto, take Sasuke with you, you two will sleep downstairs for the first part of the night" Naruto gave a quick look of annoyance "we'll trade places with you in a few hours…" Neji's voice seemed cool and void but Naruto knew never to complain or whine, messing with Neji was dangerous turf.

Sasuke stood without being told and walked past Naruto who followed silently behind. Sasuke's steps barely made a sound on the old creaking wood of the floors, they were perfectly silent. Naruto couldn't help but glare at his back, **why** had he come back?

The fire had gone out and a large tree protected them from the rain, Naruto immediately got to work on kindling a new one. Sasuke rolled out his bed and plopped down onto it watching as Naruto fiddled with his lighter, a large plume of flames finally bloomed out of the charred wood, lighting their sitting area. Naruto sighed and sat down across from Sasuke. The silence was sickening, but not to Naruto… to Sasuke. It was the way that Naruto sat. His blue eyes blatantly staring at Sasuke, staring him down. Naruto breathed in.

"so…" He said.

Sasuke looked up, an acknowledgement that he had heard him.

"Is that how you did it?" Narutos' eyes were full of emotion and they clashed with Sasukes' void ones.

"did what?" Sasuke finally spoke.

"the night **you** left… I was **told **she was waiting for you by the gate… and you knocked her out and threw her on some bench…"

There was the slightest hint of hatred in Naruto's voice. Sasuke didn't say anything.

"they said she had no bruising… that you must have used some technique… was that it?"

"was what it?"

Naruto sighed in irritation "don't play stupid Sasuke, when we were fighting, you did something to her neck to prevent her from waking up…" Naruto waited for a moment before continuing "that's why she isn't waking up now… so is that how you did it?"

-o-o-o-o-

_Naruto pulled her back "stop it she'll wake up!!" he whispered "not any more" Sasuke pressed his hand to her neck and a light gasp escaped her throat before she fell back into a deep sleep. "there" he said as he pulled her away from him. Naruto narrowed his eyes "you dick!"_

-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke looked at him "yes"

Naruto narrowed his eyes "stay the hell away from her"

And for the first time in a very long time, Sasuke felt intimidated by what Naruto had just said…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The night went by quickly and Sasuke eventually fell into a light sleep, he knew Naruto would not sleep, he could feel his eyes burning into his back. The stiffness of the situation was almost unbearable for Sasuke and he was more than relieved when he heard Neji and Sai walk out of the house. "your turn" Sai patted Naruto on the head who in turn slapped his hand away. Naruto stood up quickly and walked into the house. Sasuke followed behind him, his emotionless façade never dying away. The room seemed cleaner than before, Sakura lay on a bedroll by the fire. Her blindfold had been washed and replaced with a new one. Sasuke stood by the doorway looking at her "she looks at peace…"

Naruto shook his head "looks can deceiving…" Naruto walked over to her and knelt by her side. Her hands were clenched into tight fists. "she's having a nightmare…" Sasuke examined her, but he couldn't detect any visible stress, other than her hands. Naruto struggled to open her palms and held her hand tightly. Sasuke stood awkwardly in the doorway not really knowing what to do.

"go to sleep Sasuke… **we** wouldn't want to be a **burden** to you…"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, but he complied. Naruto's last comment still had him slightly shaken up.

"_stay the hell away from her…" _

So Sasuke sat down and leaned up against the wall. He didn't sleep, he just watched. Naruto eventually fell asleep on the hard floor, rolling away from her and closer to the fire. Sasuke took this opportunity, he stood up and walked quietly to where she lay. Crouching down by her side, not daring to touch her. He just examined her… wondering what she would be like today if none of this had ever happened. Her hands were still clenched.

He slowly reached for it, enclosing her tiny fingers in his own calloused ones. He closed his eyes, and in the very very very back of his mind… he hoped that he was giving her comfort. Helping her escape her nightmares the way Naruto always did.

She grunted and turned her head but Sasuke didn't move. She was still asleep so he had nothing to worry about…

"Sasuke…" her voice was filled with longing and hope. Sasuke immediately yanked away from her, pulling his hand along with him. His breathing was quick accompanied by a painfully fast beating heart. She rolled onto her back and her breathing became normal again. She was wearing her sports bra and he could tell she had been cleaned up a bit. Her back was mostly exposed to the night air and he hesitantly moved closer to cover her up.

Just as he was pulling her sheets, something red caught his eye and he moved closer, inspecting her back. Small thin lines littered her perfect skin.

Scars.

Over the years of being a ninja it was expected that you would acquire more than a couple of these… But **these** were different.

Sasuke hand hovered over her back, tracing the thin lines, knowing that she had been tortured… and brutally. These scars were proof of it.

"They used to be worse.."

Sasuke stiffened but made no attempt to move away from Sakura.

Naruto Sat up and crossed his legs looking down at her. There was a long silence between them, but it wasn't painful or uncomfortable like the others. It was calm and mutual…

'Im sorry…' he thought but didn't dare to speak.

Naruto put his head on the back of her head, "I take it she didn't tell you what happened…"

Sasuke shook his head. No one did.

"…"

"Ill tell you…"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"_Sakura!!" Naruto yelled as he scrambled towards her house. The small apartment door was practically ripped off its hinges as the blonde boy flew into her house UNINVITED and landed on her sofa. Sakura walked out of her kitchen, her hair was wet and clung to the sides of her face "what now Naruto?" She shoved his legs off her sofa and sat beside him. Naruto stretched his arms along the back of the couch and smiled broadly "what's up?" Sakura twitched "Naruto you cant just bust into my house every time you wanna chat…" shook her head sending a shower of water onto Naruto. _

"_Ack! Hey watch it!!" _

"_oh please a little water wont do much harm…" she smiled. "So really what did you come by for?" Naruto chuckled devilishly and pulled a scroll out of his pocket. Sakura reached for it but he lifted it just out of her reach "saaaaaay please!" _

"_what? No give it to me Naruto!!" she reached again but he stood up, towering over her like a skyscraper. "Naruto!!" she gritted angrily and she jumped up, but to no avail. He was several heads taller than her now and now matter how high she jumped he could always jump higher. He laughed evilly as he continued to provoke her. "Naruto! Its addressed to ME! Give it to me NOW!" she landed a fist in his gut and the scroll immediately popped out of his hand and landed in her own. Naruto doubled over in pain groaning unintelligible words. Sakura sighed and picked Naruto up by his collar and sat him on her couch and she sat down next to him. "S-Sakura that huuurt…" He gave her a pathetic look and she sighed placing her right hand on his stomach, a green hue engulfing her fingers. She held up the scroll with her left hand while continuing to heal with her right. "its from Tsunade…" Naruto leaned in closer careful not to move his abdomen while she healed it. "what's it about?" _

"_she's inviting me over for dinner" she said casually. _

"_really?" _

_Sakura gave him an irritated look "Naruto of course she's not inviting me over! This is a mission scroll you moron!" Naruto scratched the back of his head and formed an 'O' shape with his big mouth. _

"_finished" she mumbled as she mover her hand away. _

"_So where are you going?" _

"_To some village, they were attacked a while back and need a healer, so Ill probably be gone for a few days…" She skimmed through the rest "it sounds simple enough…" She smiled and stood up. "well I'm going to pack, I should head out tonight" she set the scroll down on the table "Hey Naruto will you do me a favor and check and make sure all the windows and stuff are locked please?" she didn't bother turning around. Naruto stood up "sure thing" _

_Sakura always had windows open and whenever she left for a mission she always had to make sure they were all tight and secure. Sakura called out from her room "Hey Naruto do you still have a key to my house?" _

"_Huh?" he turned. _

"_A key to my house, do you still have the one I gave you?" she called a little louder this time. _

"_Oh! Yeah I do why?" About a year ago they had swapped house keys, mostly for safety reasons. _

"_I bought some plants from Ino and I was wondering if you could water them while I'm gone" Naruto looked in the kitchen and sure enough three pots were set out on her counter. Naruto smiled "Yeah I'll do it," _

_She walked out of her room, dressed in her fighting apparel with a bag slung over her arm. "Please don't forgot Naruto" she flashed him a hard stare. He chuckled nervously "I wont I swear!" She smiled, apparently satisfied with his answer. _

_Naruto moved the pots onto her dining table where they would be in the sun as Sakura stood in the living room, watching him silently. He had become more responsible, and dependable over the years. And even though taking care of three plants wasn't that big of a deal, it was the fact that she __**knew**__ he could do it. She sighed and adjusted her pack and slipped on her boots. "hey there's some ramen in my frig, if you want it you can have it" Naruto scrambled over her counter and into the kitchen excitedly and flung open the refrigerator door. "Allright! Did you make this?" he turned to her with a bowl in his hands. She nodded and stood up. "all right I have to go now…come on Naruto" she waved him out of her house and locked the door. "you want me to walk you to the gate?" _

_She nodded. _

_Naruto stood next to her facing the gate. "Okay then" she said "See ya later!" she turned to him and they hugged each other. It was the same ritual. Whenever one of them was sent on a mission without the other they would walk to the gate together and hug. "be safe" he said as he tightened his grip. "take care of my plants" Naruto laughed and released her. She smiled and walked out of the gate. "Come back safe!" he shouted. _

"_always!" came her reply. _

_-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-___**In Chapter FIVE I dropped a hint, but it was kinda subtle so I HIGHLY suggest you RE-READ that chapter. (;**

" 'Allways!' she said… we always did this, because a long time ago someone close to us didn't come back…" Naruto looked up at Sasuke. "finish the story…" Sasuke avoided his gaze. Hearing how the two of them had become so inseparably close during his absence was painful to him. He never heard of them training their brains out to come and bring him back or taking blood oaths to rescue him… there was none of that. It was all talk of living their lives, moving ahead and moving on. The idea that Sakura and Naruto practically lived together bothered him. They sounded like lovers to Sasuke but none of this even phased the people in Konaha, as if every one knew them so well.

'_those people don't know anything about them…_' he thought bitterly.

Naruto smiled sadly down at her. "I watered those plants… every day… she told me she was going to be gone for a while so I wasn't worried when she didn't come home for a week… but on day eight I became worried…"

"_TSUNADE!!" Naruto ran into her office panting lightly and smiling. Tsunade didn't bother to look up from her paperwork. "Yes Naruto…" _

"_Did a letter come from Sakura today?" Tsunade paused and looked up at him…_

_She rummaged through a pile of letters on her desk, then threw open several drawers and dug through them. She looked up at Naruto "she must be busy, I'm sure she will send a letter in a few days" she said reassuringly. Naruto groaned "but it's been a week Tsunade… shouldn't we have received some sort of report?" _

"_Naruto that town was brutally attacked, I'm sure she has her hands full and probable has no time to send letters" She continued to work. Naruto gritted his teeth "But what if something bad happened!! Just send me to-" "NARUTO!!" Tsunade slammed her papers onto her desk "I am EXTREMELY busy today so PLEASE just LEAVE I'm sure well get a letter soon!" Naruto clenched his fists and stood there for several more moments before stomping out of her office angrily. He walked to her house and opened to door, walking slowly into the kitchen where he filled a jug with water. He peered over the counter into the pots and smiled. The plants had gotten taller and small buds were beginning to form. He wondered briefly what the flowers looked like. _

_After he watered the plants Naruto went home… two days past and now he wasn't the only one worried. Tsunade sent a scout to the village to see if she was all right and he came back within the day. _

_Naruto ran to the tower as fast as he could, his feet pounding onto the floor and the wind burning his eyes. He heard that the scout was seen returning the same day he was sent out, and WITHOUT Sakura. Naruto spotted several others running to the tower, Kakashi being one of them. They all gathered in her office and stood around Tsunade's desk, the scout standing in the middle. His breathing was hard and violent "she wasn't there!" "What?!" the entire group said in union. "They said she never even showed up!" Tsunade stood up immediately formulating a plan "Kakashi! I want you to gather a team to go and retrieve her! Ill send ANBU to look for clue's" _

_Knock Knock_

"_WHAT NOW?!" Tsunade roared. The door opened slowly and Gaara walked in, slightly surprised to see he had walked into the middle of a Meeting. He blinked "I'm sorry I'll come back at a better time" Naruto jumped up and grabbed the kazekage by the collar "Gaara we need your help!" Gaara looked slightly stunned. "what happened?" _

"_Sakura is missing and we need to find her" 'Sakura...' the pink haired girl he almost killed… the same girl who saved his brothers life and killed one of the Akatsuki for him. Yes he knew her… and he owed her. "I'll help" _

_The ANBU and the SRT (__**S**__akura __**R**__etrieval __**T**__eam) were going to meet at a bridge and swap info. The Sakura Retrieval Team consisted of four members. Kakashi, Neji, Gaara and Naruto. The ANBU had found something… something they needed to show them. _

_Several miles from the bridge was a clearing. The team ran towards it. "Gah!!" Naruto plugged his nose "what's that smell?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes as the clearing came into view "Bodies…" _

_Huge chunks of earth shot out of the ground, obviously Sakura's doing. Fifteen bodies in all littered the ground. "What the fuck happened here..?" Naruto looked at the scene. _

"_we don't know which village they are from, they weren't wearing forehead protectors…" The ANBU pulled something out of his bag and handed it to Naruto "But we did find this…" Naruto looked in horror at the object in his hand. Sakura's forehead protector… it was covered in blood. _

_Kakashi glanced at the object for only a moment before turning away from it. Naruto took it from them, his eyes fixed on the red ribbon. "We picked up on their tracks and we think we have their general location..." _

_It was an old concrete building in the middle of a small abandoned town. Neji eyed the building, "It looks like it used to be a hospital…" "Why would Sakura come here?" Naruto asked. Gaara glanced at him, Kakashi shook his head "Naruto.. I think that at this point we can assume that wherever she is she didn't go there willingly…" _

_Naruto bit his lip "then we should go search that building…" Kakashi nodded and turned to Neji "Neji" he nodded and activated his Byakugan "there's no one in their… but I am picking up something… I cant tell what it is…" _

_Inside the building the walls creaked eerily, Neji lead them towards the place he had seen. He stopped at a white door, the labeling on it had almost completely worn away "Surgery" Neji read and opened the door slowly. A medical table with a lamp hanging over it. Medical tools were scattered everywhere, several of them were jammed into the walls. Naruto felt his hands shaking, he could smell her… she had been here. The Kakashi examined the table "she wasn't on this…someone else was…" he looked around the room and spotted a metal chair sitting next to the table. Pieces of rope littered around the chair and faint blood stains could be seen on the arms. "She was here…" Naruto clenched his fists and closed his eyes. Gritting his teeth sure sharply that he was sure they would crack… Kakashi walked slowly over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto its-" _

"_Shut up!" Naruto glared up at his teacher _

"_Naruto, this isn't your fault" _

_Naruto shoved Kakashi away "Yes it fucking is! Why the fucking hell didn't I go with her?!" He kicked the medical table sending it flying into the opposite wall. Kakashi swallowed down the lump in his throat. Naruto's breathing became hard and tears poured down his cheeks. "I should have protected her… I should have been there for them…" 'them' Sasuke and Sakura… Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder again, this time neither of them said anything… _

"_they obviously left in a hurry..." Neji walked around the room. _

_Gaara knelt down by the chair "look at this" on the arm of the chair, just where her hands would have been there was a small symbol. Kakashi bent down to look at it _

_His eyes widened "its-" _

_-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"It was a village symbol, Sakura had scratched into the chair… she was giving us clues." Naruto smiled sadly.

"What was the symbol?" Sasuke looked up. Naruto paused for a moment "…Its not important…"

"It took us six more days to pick up another clue… we found some of her hair, little strands of them… all over the place… but even with this, we still were a long ways away from finding her…" he clenched his fists "It took us almost three months to catch up to them… and the longer it took… the more strange things became…"

"how so?"

Naruto sighed "before, her clues were intentionally placed, things seemed like the enemy was just toying with us… but I remember… one of the last building we searched was the worst.."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_A building… if you could even call it that, stood all alone in the middle of an empty field. The small team ran quickly into it, rules did not apply to them anymore, it had been three long months and they didn't care if they had to destroy city after city anymore. "Everybody search a level!" Kakashi yelled out. Naruto ran up a fleet of stairs, she had been here not too long ago, he knew it. His hands shook as she searched each endless room. Finally he came to a bolted door, he kicked it open without a second thought and ran inside "SAKURA!!" he screamed as he looked around, but she wasn't here… _

_The room looked like a nightmare, the walls were bashed in and blood splattered in every direction. Naruto put his head in his hands and screamed, he screamed for Sakura, for Sasuke, for Kakashi and Tsunade... he screamed for himself. He had failed at everything, he didn't protect Sakura, and he let Sasuke run away…_

_-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Maybe… if you had stayed, none of this would have happened…" Sasuke didn't move.

"there was nothing I would have been able to do…"

He lied

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_Naruto stood outside the room while Neji and Gaara searched it for clues. Kakashi stood silently next to him, his one eye studying his pupil. "I don't understand…" Naruto whispered, "she isn't doing anything… I mean before she was leaving clues… she was fighting to live… and…" his voice wavered and he grabbed handfuls of his own hair and shook his head "What are they doing to her!!" he screamed into his hands. Kakashi looked away, the young boy he once knew was no longer with him…this new Naruto was dark. _

_Gaara end Neji emerged from the room, we didn't find anything from Sakura…but I'm almost positive they left in an Extreme hurry" Neji wiped some blood off of his hands. "This blood is still wet, and in some places… its still warm…" _

_Naruto looked up wide eyed "so she must be nearby!" Neji nodded "and I think I know where..." _

_Earlier Neji had activated his Byakugan as soon as they neared the building the and he quickly scanned the area. The first thing he noticed was an underground fort of some sort. That was where they were headed now. Running at full speed Neji squinted his eyes "I see people inside!" "Hurry!" Naruto yelled as he darted ahead of them. The building was well concealed but the entrance left wide open. Whoever these people were, they were in a hurry. "Their gone!" Neji yelled as he looked around, his Byakugan still activated. The team ran inside. "Whoever was here just disappeared!" Neji heard Naruto curse loudly "But they left someone.. I … I cant really tell who…" Neji stopped in front of a half open door, the inside was pitch black, Kakashi flicked out a lighter and lit it. "She… she's here" Neji whispered in disbelief… Before he could even finish that sentence Naruto bust into the room yanking Kakshi's lighter with him, the dim light cast a faded glow around them and he scrambled around the room "SAKURA!!" He called "SAKURA WHERE ARE YOU?!" he heard breathing. He turned to the corner of the room where he saw her… lying in the corner half naked… blood pooling around her frail form. He dropped the lighter as his breathing become non existent. "Sa..Saku" He couldn't say it. He closed his eyes and prayed with all his might that when he opened them, she wouldn't be like this…that she would punch him for taking so long, that she would smile… that she would look alive… _

_But not all prayers come true… when he opened them, she was still there… Kakashi shot past him taking her head in his lap. "She knocked out! Naruto give me your shirt!" Naruto didn't move, he looked down at her. "Oh god Sakura…" "I'm so sorry…"_

"_NARUTO NOW!" Kakashi screamed. Naruto jolted for a moment then hastily removed his shirt. Neji looked over her "We need to get her out of here now! She needs help" _

_Kakashi had pulled the shirt over her shoulders as Neji knelt down next to Naruto "she needs immediate medical attention and we are at least three days from Konaha..."_

_-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"we left as soon as we could, we eventually had to stop at a river and wash her wounds… but that was our only stop… we made it to Konaha within a day and a half, and we carried her into town,…" there was a long pause "you should have seen the peoples faces, it pretty much looked like we were carrying a dead body, no one could even tell who it was, that's how bad her injuries were..."

"Tsunade healed as much as she could and Sakura started to wake up… I was so exited to talk to her…"

Sasuke finished for him "but it wasn't her…"

Naruto shook his head "No… it wasn't… whatever those bastards had done to her made her terrified of everyone around her… except for Gaara…"

"why?"

"I don't know…" Naruto scratched his chin "well those are the basics of the story… I'm going to sleep now…" Naruto snatched a pillowed and slumped down onto the floor next to Sakura "Naruto…"

"hm?..."

"How did you get her to trust you again…" it was a demand rather than a question.

Naruto opened one eye and looked at him remembering the night that he finally was able to get Sakura to open up to him "All the people around her, she is open to… but that was only with my help…" Naruto closed his eye again.

"But HOW did she come to trust _you" _Sasuke began to become irritated with all these riddles. Naruto did not open his eye this time "Sasuke… that's something you'r going to have to figured out on your own… but in perfect honesty… she may **never** trust you…"

JESUS!! Finally! Ok so that was pretty much the most borringest chapter every written… but I'm really excited about chapter eleven. And I know what you all are thinking, "WHY THE HELL IS THIS STORY ONLY ABOUT NARUTO?!" well I was thinking the same thing but I figure, Naruto is the main character so I might as well follow that I little bit… so I am extremely sorry about this chapter absolutely sucking…

Anyway PLEASE REVIEW!!


	10. Calling Out To You

Hey thanks for all the reviews and favs, and remember!

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**PLEASE READ THE BOTTOM ONCE YOU FINISH READING THIS PATHETICALLY SHORT CHAPTER. **

**Thank you **

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura woke, or at least she thought she woke. She could never tell. She would open her eyes but was only greeted by darkness, and she would have to depend on sounds and smells to tell what time of day it was. She knew where she was, the healers hut, but why was she here? Had she been captured again? She moved her arms and legs around, she wasn't bound. She could smell Naruto next to her and she turned to face him, his breathing was heavy and she suppressed a smile as he began to snore.

Rain…wood… and trees… that was what she smelled when she turned to her left. But it wasn't outside that she smelled. She knew exactly what it was…

"Sasuke" she mumbled, letting the words slip out of her mouth. He was further away from her than Naruto was but she could hear him breathing. It was leveled and slightly tense; he wasn't asleep… which meant he had heard her. But at the moment she couldn't care less… those men had found her again… and for some reason she was back at the healers' house…

"How did I-"

"You're safe here Sakura… the healers were imposters…"

"Doppelgangers…" she mumbled so quietly that Sasuke wondered is she had even meant for him to hear them. Naruto began to shuffle around, he was waking up.

"who dropped the gang now?" he mumbled from his pillow. Sleep talking was a common occurrence for Naruto and Sakura had become accustomed to it over the years. She placed a hand on his shoulder "Naruto wake up…" she whispered, the tiniest hint of a smile gracing her lips. This was hidden from Sasuke's view but from behind her he could see her cheek bones rising. He glanced at Naruto's sleeping form with irritation.

"no…" he mumbled rolling over "No more spoons…"

"Naruto" she said a little more loudly this time, her smile widening a bit "wake up" she nudged him. Sasuke drummed his fingers on the floor, this morning ceremony was new to him and seemed in all effects completely worthless. Naruto rolled over again this time swatting Sakura's hand away "Get me some milk from the house please…" he murmured. Sakura smiled "Naru-"

Sasuke stood quickly and kicked Naruto onto his back without doing any actual damage. "Wake up dobe" Naruto's eyes shot open and Sakura's smile dissipated almost as quickly as Sasuke had moved "WOAH!" Naruto sat up, his eyes wide as he craned his neck around the room and landed on Sakura "Oh hey Sakura! Good morning!" Sakura nodded.

"did you sleep well?" he asked dusting off his shirt.

She shook her head "not really… almost being raped doesn't exactly leave pleasant memories" It was so bluntly said that even Sasuke was slightly taken aback by it. Naruto blinked, taking a moment to process what she had said. His face darkening "I should have protected you Sakura… I should hav-"

"that's water under the bridge now Naruto" she said plainly "now tell me… why are we still in this swamp?"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"symptoms" the old woman repeated the word that Sakura had just placed before her "they said you wouldn't have any?" her eyes were wide and she glared at the group for a brief moment. Most of them looked guilty enough as it was so she spared them anymore glaring "Honestly the youngens these days!!" she waved a bony hand in their direction before turning to Sakura "I'm not gonna lie to you dear, the procedure me and my sister will do is going to be extremely painful…" Sakura nodded "That's understandable" she smiled politely at them.

"Sakura-chans strong! She can handle anything you throw at her! Besides its not like it lasts forever" Naruto smiled broadly.

The old woman nodded slowly, "well… its not a one day thing… the symptoms will last for a month at least and let me tell you they aren't pleasant" The other healer nodded in agreement "Messes with your mind it does" She pointed a bony finger at Sakura's forehead. It was Neji's turn to speak. "So when should we start? Were already running on overtime and should be getting back soon. The old woman nodded "It will only take about an hour, you all can stay in here with us if you like" and of course they did.

So far the procedure itself was completely painless and Sakura wondered if maybe she got lucky and would have no symptoms. They had slowly weaved chakra into her eyes, swirling around her nerves and diving into her brain. The feeling tickled her and she followed every one of there movements. She followed there steps and they threaded their chakra through her brain. She drifted off into thought as the sensation coming from her temple soothed her mind. She hadn't felt anxious or nervous about the session, in her mind she had long ago accepted that she would be blind forever.

A blind, useless lump of flesh that took up space… She thought of how Naruto had wasted months spending his time with her, she knew he was falling back on his training but she selfishly kept this to herself. She remembered when she took his arms one day she briefly recalled him being slightly more muscular. She remembered the guilt that came over her, Naruto probably hadn't trained in a while and it was all because of her. But she knew he wouldn't leave until she asked him too, so she kept quiet, not wanting him to leave her alone.

Alone in this dark, nightmarish world that she had been so violently thrown into.

In the back of Sakura's mind she vaguely heard someone talking to her, but she couldn't hear them. She tried to make out the words

"get ready dear!" Sakura opened her mouth to inquire but was stopped dead by an electrifying pain that surged through her head.

Sakura gasped out in pain as they reached her Occipital Lobe. She felt her head fly back and all the nerve endings in her body flare up. "Hold her down!" one of them yelled. She immediately felt several arms around her, each belonging to a different person and each of them trying to calm her down. But her brain was swirling, memories and flashbacks interfering with her rationality. She flailed against them immediately assuming the worst.

'they've got me! They've got me!' she screamed in her mind, images of people torturing her filled her head.

"_We need you to do this Sakura" _

"_NO!" _

"_your making this a lot more difficult than it has to be" _

"_I wont betray my country…" _

"_either way we ARE going to get what we want, so I'll ask you once more…" _

"_NO!!" _

"_have it your way then" _

"NO!!" she snapped back into reality as brutal memories filled her head. They were searching her mind, going into her temporal lobe, causing blocked off memories to fill her head at a violent rate. "GET OUT!! GET OUT!!" she screamed.

"Calm down!" "Safe now!" "Almost over" "hang in there!"

The words were mashed together and she had no idea who they belonged to. And frankly she didn't care. The pain was unbearable, she screamed as loud as she could but she couldn't hear herself. The chakra coursing into her brain no longer soothed her like it had before. She felt like she was being dipped into searing oil and set on fire. She felt like thousands of tiny acid coated needles were shooting in and out of her skin. Billions of names flashed through her mind 'HELP!' she screamed in her head. 

'NARUTO!'

'GAARA!'

'SENSIE!'

'NEJI!'

'INO!'

'SAI!'

The pain peaked to its worst point and every horrible memory that had been locked away in the farthest catacombs of her memory flooded out, gushing through her. She could almost see demon like flames gnawing at her flesh, torturing her with pain and memory.

She lost it.

"SASUKE! ! !"

And everything went quiet…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Ok for those of you who didn't get it, she was TRYING to call out for help but when the pain and fear became the worst she called out to Sasuke, and she didn't just think it she actually did scream it. And SOOOOOOOOO sorry about making this chapter so short but im going up north tomorrow and I thought instead of making you guys wait another week I would just pots up this short crap. But I really do promise that the next one will be really really really long.

**Please comment! I really do love those and as you all know, I am a comments whore, P:**

**Soooo!**

**Feel free to ask questions! Because I usually do answer them and its usually by email. **

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	11. To Snuff You Out

**Holy Friggin Crap!!**

You guys totally cracked me up!!

**Hahaha!**

I was laughing so hard when I read some of your comments; most of them were about the fact that I had called myself a '**Comment Whore'**

Lol, maybe I should call myself a whore more often!

Hoohoo!

Yeah well anyways, I do apologize for the last chapter being unbearably short and pointless. It really means a lot to me that you guys read my story.

**So anyway!! HERE WE GO!!**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The sky was light orange, with splashes of pink swirling around her. The streets of Konaha looked calm and quiet, the sleeping city had never looked so normal. Sakura smiled as she paced down the streets, her bare feet stinging at the roughness of the ground. But she savored the feeling as her eyes took in everything around her. She looked up to see the Hokage's tower looming above her, its shadow engulfing her completely. Her forming feeling of happiness had completely vanished in that brief moment, pushed aside by her instincts and replaced with fear. Sasuke, his tall and handsome form walked gracefully past her, she stared in awe at his back. "Sasuke!" she said. But he didn't turn.

He entered the tower and she followed behind him "Sasuke it's me!" she said, this time with a little bit more force. She noticed he was wearing his childhood clothes, only they were slightly bigger, as to fit his new form. The Uchiha emblem was sewn perfectly onto the back, only wrinkling when he would turn a corner. She heard metal sliding along an opposing surface .Her head instinctively shot it its direction. Sasuke had pulled out his katana and his pace quickened.

Traitor

The word shot through her like a bullet and stuck. NO! she thought to herself, He's changed!!

His katana reflected an unknown light and he walked even faster. "SASUKE!" this time she screamed it "SASUKE STOP!" she began to run as fast as she could but no matter how fast he still stayed a good meter away from her. 

"SASU-" He halted and she froze mid word. "-ke…" she finished. His shoulders began to shake and for the briefest moment she wondered if maybe he was shaking in fear. But that theory was shot down when she hear low chuckles coming from him. His laughter became more menacing, almost like a character in a movie and Sakura looked up at his looming form. She stepped back but her heel crashed into a wall and she turned to see she was cornered. Fear filled her and she looked up to see Sasuke turning to her, a wide smirk gracing his perfect features. She felt like she was her younger self again, she could even feel her bangs falling gracelessly onto her forehead, covering her eyes. She looked down at her hands and was horrified to see that they had shrunk, her clothes had changed as well. She was wearing one of her old childhood garbs. She felt her bottom lip quiver and she looked up at Sasuke, shaking with fear. "Sasuke! Whats going on? I-"

He knelt down next to her and put his lips up to her ear "are you scared Sakura?" he whispered. His voice was different somehow, like nails on a chalkboard. She felt something slimy encircling her neck and she screamed in horror as a snake appeared. "SASUKE HELP ME!!" she screamed scrambling to free herself, but her childhood body had never proved to be much of a fighter. She looked up at him, begging him to save her.

He stood quickly, as if he were a business man late for a meeting. He looked down the hallway at the hokages tower, an unreadable expression masking his face. He began to walk away from Sakura, she could feel her last breath looming in her lungs. He paused just a few feet away and glanced back at her.

"Tell me Sakura…" his brilliant onyx eyes stared at her, as if trying to find the answer for himself.

"What are dreams made of?"

Sakura didn't even have time to process what he had said, the snakes muscles tightened one last time before her body went limp, falling onto the hard wooden floor. In the distance she could hear a blade slicing through air, and then what sounded like someone cutting some sort of melon. And then blood curdling screams filled her ears.

And she knew she had failed. But what she had failed, she would never know, as her heart beat one last beat, and stopped… forever.

-o-o-o-o-

Sakura woke covered in sweat, she was immediately greeted by the burning pain again and realized she was still being worked on. She could feel hands all over her, people shouting words to her, words that were meant to comfort. "almost done dear!" she heard one of the healers say. She felt one final pang of pain and then she felt like a dozen burning ropes were pulled out through her eye sockets, taking with them all of the pain. Her body went limp and she felt Naruto wrap his arms around her neck, saying something about how proud he was of her.

But she didn't listen to him, all of her senses were focused on her right hand, where another strong, calloused hand grasped hers tightly. It didn't take a scientist to figure out that it was Sasuke. But she didn't move her hand, she let it sit like a dead fish in his own. Her thoughts became serious as she thought of the Uchiha, and against popular belief, she was not an idiot. She knew something was up, and even though her heart begged her not to think it, she couldn't help it…

Why did he come back?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Of all the stupid things you could have done!!" she growled as she stood outside the healers hut. Naruto was standing shamefully off to the side holding Sakura's bag. Last night, when the rain had poured down so violently, Naruto, Sasuke, Sai and Neji and gathered up all of their belongings. Putting them away in a sheltered place by the fire. Away from all of the mud and rain. But Naruto, being Naruto, had completely overlooked Sakura's bag and it was left out on the rain, and by the next morning, all of her things, including a change of clothes, were ruined. Sakura gave a frustrated laugh and she dug her nails into her scalp, tugging lightly on the blindfold wrapped around her eyes.

She was still blind, Naruto had been severely disappointed and was constantly reminding her not to cry, she of course had been expecting this. She knew she wouldn't be able to see again right off the bat… the healers said it would take a month for all her nerves to heal, and that her vision would come back in a flash. Sakura didn't believe this at all and was almost reluctant in paying them. But she did it for Naruto and the others. The blonde would stand next to her holding one of her hands tightly telling her not to cry. His voice would quiver and she knew that the only person ready to start the waterworks here … was Naruto. She would give him a dry look, hoping he got the message but of course he would take it the wrong way, saying she looked like she was in pain of ill. So Sakura decided to spare herself the humiliation and just ignore him. That was… until she found her bag…

"Naruto Honestly!! How could you miss it?!" she felt like she had been ranting for hours. Naruto stood in front of her, desperately dusting off her bag, trying to undo his besmirching. "So now what am I supposed to wear?" she unconsciously lifted one of her sleeves and sniffed it. And expression of agony filled her face and she could hear Naruto trying to suppress a giggle. Sakura slapped her hands to her sides "well what did you expect? After being dragged through a swamp! 'Healed' if you could even call it that, and..," she paused for a moment. Naruto's face fell and the three other members of the group who had been packing there things paused. "Just… Just help me find a change of clothes please…" Naruto nodded "sure thing"

-15 minutes later-

"No"

"why not?"

"NO"

"c'mon! you know you want to see it too!"

"I do agree, Sakura-chan would look very appealing in this"

"NO" Neji loomed over the two. "Find something else"

Naruto and Sai were sitting on the ground next to each other, Naruto holding up one of Sai's belly shirts. "Why? This'll work fine!" Naruto protested while Sai nodded, his face was twisted up and Sasuke guessed he was trying to come up with some sort of emotion.

"Because" Neji leaned down to Naruto's level and gave him an intimidating glare. "Im considering how SAKURA would react if you tried to get her to wear that…" Neji's eyes narrowed and Naruto immediately got the message. A tremor of fear filled him as he thought of Sakura smashing his face into the ground then literally breaking all of his bones then healing them so she could do it all over again.

Naruto, a while back had attempted to take advantage of her lack of vision and switched her normal clothes with some … more… _feminine_ ones. Sakura in turn broke his legs and arms and simultaneously would heal them only to continue her painful torture. Every one seemed to been thinking of said situation. Sai let out a dry laugh next to him and Naruto's head snapped in his direction "Hey shut it belly boy! It was a painful experience for me!"

Neji smirked "You brought it upon yourself you know…" Neji snatched Sai's shirt out of Naruto's hand and threw it back to Sai who quickly stuffed it away in his bag.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the group, "what happened?" he asked plainly. Naruto looked up at him with a grimace "I uh… I tried switching Sakura's clothes with some… different… clothes…" Sasuke envisioned the worst possible scenario in his head. "ah…" He glanced at the house as Sakura walked out wearing a plain white t-shirt and what looked gym pants. "Where did you find those?" Naruto asked.

"they had some from previous patients… I guess" she pointed back at the two healers who smiled deviously at her. She turned in Naruto's direction and mouthed something to him. 'they are weird'

Naruto shook his head not getting the message "What?"

Sakura sighed exasperatedly. "Well are we ready to leave?" Neji said as he stood up, smoothing out his shirt. Naruto threw his bag over his shoulder and jumped up to take Sakura's arm. "Yes yes but one more thing before yall go off and leave…" The two old healers walked closer to the group to make sure they all could hear "this next month will be a hard one for ya" they pointed at Sakura who stood there blankly. Naruto coughed and whispered that they were pointing at her. She blushed lightly "O-oh! Me! Oh ok, yeah" she sputtered. Sasuke almost smiled, it seemed like the old Sakura had slowly seeped back to the surface, being outdoors with her old teem must have helped a bit. "The symptoms wont show up for about anotha hour or so, so make sure ya never leave her alone" she nodded at her own words, turning to he sister who nodded and finished for her "just keep an eye on her! But it's only for a month… so good luck sweet heart!" one of the old ladies ran up to Sakura and enveloped her in an overly dramatic hug. Naruto who had been standing next to her cried out in horror as he felt a bony claw grope his well toned buttocks for a few seconds. "MIA!!" the other healer yelled "What have I told you about gropin the young people?!" The healer Mia cackled devilishly "if it wa up ta me I'd be grabbin all of your tasty little booties!" She pointed at the men of the group, laughing menacingly. Sakura stood in complete confusion while Naruto whimpered something about being molested next to her. Neji stood dumbfounded then nodded slowly, "well uh… thank you I think we should be leaving now…"

"BYE BYE!!" The healer Mia reached over to Sasuke, her hand dangerously below his waist but he jumped out of her way and behind Sakura who was waving goodbye to them. As the group turned to leave, our blind little ninja turned and thumped right into Sakuke, she yelped as if in pain and immediately shot in Naruto's direction.

'_what are dreams made of?'_

She shivered at the memory and quickly shoved it into the back of her mind. Sasuke eyed her suspiciously, he would have to talk to her sooner or later… he figured tonight when everyone was asleep was the best idea. He watched the back of her head, her hair was pinned down by her blindfold but even with that it still somehow managed to sway gently in the breeze. It surprised him to think that just two hours ago that same fluttery hair was matted down to her head with sweat and tears. The thought of them all holding her down, while the healers tortured her sickened him. Sasuke had awkwardly placed his hand on her shoulder, while she screamed to them, he wasn't really sure what else to do...

Her screams reminded him of his time with Orochimaru, when he would walk past Kabuto's lab or the interrogation dungeons. Sasuke had always avoided them whenever possible, and although he would never admit it… he still was human. And the things that Orochimaru did bothered him….

When she had called out his name, he immediately yanked back his hand. He wondered if maybe she was remembering being tortured by his copy. Naruto, who had his arms wrapped around her shoulders seemed to be the only one who noticed her cry. He looked slowly up to Sasuke and reached for his hand, placing it on Sakura's. Sasuke eyed him but Naruto refused to meet his gaze. He carefully enclosed her hand in his own, worried that he might break it of he held it too hard. But we was soon proved wrong when her own hand nearly crushed his, it took most of his willpower not to yank away from her again as her inhuman strength crippled his fingers. And after what seemed like hours of torture the healers removed their hands and Sakura went limp, her hand relaxing and her head falling back onto Naruto's arm.

When Sasuke had come back to Konaha, this was the last thing he was expecting to happen. He also wasn't expecting to see Kabuto meeting up with him while he was out on a Konaha mission. He wasn't expecting Sakura to be blind. He wasn't expecting the Kazegage to be a frequent visitor. And he wasn't expecting his home to be this different.

These issues did complicate his plans but they shouldn't have halted them completely. He should have been able to somehow work his way out of them, but no… he didn't. He became sidetracked and then Orochimaru had sent Kabuto after him. The thought made his stomach twist. Now he would have to work double time and be gone before the month was out.

Sakura.

Yes she had become an issue. As a matter of fact, she WAS the issue. Even now, as Sasuke thought of how he would have to leave before the month was out, he contemplated staying for just a week longer, to see Sakura's eyes again. That lovely green apple color that used to portray every emotion like a painting for the whole world to see.

And even now as he planned for his mission, he wondered what he could say to Sakura tonight when he had planned on talking to her. And even as his instincts told him to focus on the mission, he pushed them aside. In his mind… what he was about to do in Konaha would be unforgivable and he would NEVER be able to come back to Konaha… Even Naruto wouldn't forgive him. So he might as well do all the things his instincts told him to avoid in the past.

But he knew he couldn't do that…

He was an Uchiha,

An avenger…

A vessel…

For Orochimaru…

He had worked too hard to cut ties and kill off emotion. Backing down even the slightest bit would ruin everything now and he couldn't afford that loss.

But even with these thoughts fresh in his mind… as he walked behind Sakura. Staring at her back… he couldn't help but wish for the briefest moment… that he could go back in time. And change everything.

Sasuke had been silent for most of the day and as he sat by the fire he stared deep into its burning coals. Sakura, of course had placed her bedroll as far away from him as possible and he was busy devising a plan on how to get to her without waking anyone up. Naruto was slightly closer to the fire and Sai was about a foot away from him. Neji was sleeping near where Sasuke sat.

"Sakura-chan!"

"hm?" she answered.

Naruto took her hands and placed a small bowl in them "I made some ramen, there's also some bread if you want" He carefully put chopsticks in her other hand. Sakura smiled a relaxed smile as she took in the smell of the broth from the steam billowing up from the soup. Sasuke saw her lick her lips. He uninterestedly swallowed down his own ramen and quickly set it aside. Naruto had begun eating his and gave Sasuke a stern look, his mouth full of food. "Sashkay you shouldn't eat so phast! Itsh bad phor you…" Sasuke mumble a quick insult just barely loud enough for anyone to hear. Naruto swallowed down hard and finished "that is bad manners" Naruto said as he straightened himself up. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "And talking with your mouthful isn't?" Naruto shrank back a bit "Teme…" He mumbled quickly.

"Dobe…"

Neji chuckled heavily and Sakura gave a breezy laugh. Sakura lifted the bowl to her lips, she had been thirsy for quite some time, but didn't feel it until now. She must have sweated out a good amount of water when they were healing her. As the steamy liquid fell into her mouth, she waited patiently for it salty taste. But it never came…

Her eyes shot open as she recognized the taste. She choked loudly spitting the liquid out and throwing the bowl to the ground spilling its contents. Naruto jumped up "Sakura what's wrong?!" She was coughing and spitting in-between screams. Naruto ran up to her taking her hands "Sakura what happened?!" Sasuke was surprised to see her fiercely yank his collar, gritting her teeth "Naruto what the FUCK was that?!" He could see her hands shaking. Naruto swallowed and tried to back away but her strong grip on his collar prevented it. "It.. It's soup…" he said sheepishly, quickly glancing at the spilled contents on the floor, just to make sure. Neji was next to her now, inspecting the broth as it slowly sank into the earth. "Don't give me that bullshit Naruto! What the hell was that!?" her voice was panicked and shaky and thin rivers of tears rolled down her cheeks. Sasuke never remembered even getting up, he found himself standing uselessly next to them. Naruto's face fell "was it really that bad?" Neji put a calming hand on her shoulder "Sakura it really was just soup…" Her hands shook and she loosened her grip on his collar. Naruto looked down at the guilty noodles on the ground. Neji paused "… what happened Sakura?" she lifted her shaking fingers to her lips. "…It tastes like blood"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The group did not go to sleep until late that night. After the soup incident, Naruto had insisted on returning to the healers house. But Neji assured her that it was just a side affect. Sakura would nod quietly to them as they tried to comfort her. But she refused all food and water, saying she wasn't hungry anymore. Sai had even pulled some candy out of his bag and offered it to her but she shook her head and smiled "I'm ok now, really…"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes the smallest fraction… she had gotten very good at lying. He watched as the group drifted off to sleep, obviously believing her. Her grunted and rolled over, his back facing the fire. Now he was too tired to stay up and talk with her. They would be traveling all day tomorrow… and he needed his strength. He closed his eyes and fought for sleep.

It irritated him that the rest of the group was so blind to her lies. She hadn't eaten anything in almost two days… he was sure the doppelgangers' didn't feed her anything while they were attacking her… and he didn't remember her eating anytime before that. Sasuke licked his lips and resisted the urge to turn over and see if she was awake. He felt his eyelids become heavy and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

She was walking again… this time a little faster…

She could see the tower in the distance, and orange sky casting golden reflections off of it windows. She was in her younger body again… back before she even became a shinobi… back before she had any friends…

She ran as fast as she could, she could feel him coming. "Gah!" she growled in a tiny voice and she brushed back her bangs. But they continued to fall in front of her face; this was how she used to wear her hair. Back when she was ashamed of who she was. She would cover her forehead up so no one could see… but it ended up only making things worse. She shook her head, tossing the loose hair back onto her scalp.

And there he was, seemingly taller this time. "Sasuke!!" she cried as she bolted after him. He ignored her and entered the tower. "Sasuke don't do this!!" _don't do what?_ She would ask herself. She didn't know why she ran after him, but whatever the reason she knew she had to stop him.

"Sasu-"

-o-o-o-

"Sakura-chan!"

She opened her eyes and the dream vanished… all the brilliant colors of the Konaha sky ran to the back of her eyes where she could not see them anymore. Black… empty darkness was all that greeted her in reality. She felt someone tugging her arm and she was surprised to see her feet were moving. She didn't even remember standing up. Her chest felt heavy and sluggish, and her lips clamped her mouth shut.

Naruto tugged her along, chatting with the rest of the group, unaware of Sakura's shallow breath. Or the way her legs would wobble whenever the road became slightly slanted or bumpy. Sasuke however… noticed all of these things. The color had gone from her cheeks and she was as pale as a cloud now. Her head hung forward slightly, an obvious sign that she was unwell. Her pink hair no longer swayed with the wind, it look heavy and sticky, a thin layer of sweat causing it to stick to her forehead. Sai glanced at her, "Sakura are you feeling well?" Naruto and Neji turned to look at her. Her face pinked "No, no I'm fine, just a little tired is all…" Naruto patted her shoulder, and Sasuke could have sworn she was going to fall over. "Don't worry Sakura-chan! We've been walking all day, no wonder your tired…" He glanced at Neji. The pale eyed boy glanced up at the sky "It is getting late… well set up camp in a bit…" Naruto smiled at her and she mumbled a quick 'ok'

When Sasuke sat down by the newly built fire, he was surprised to feel the muscles in his legs burning. He let out a loud sigh and lay back down on the grass, he turned his head to see the rest of the group doing the same. He stretched his arms out above his head, cracking his back as he sat up, his stomach growling at him. Naruto laughed and Sakura smiled. The food was quickly distributed and everyone was eating. It was a simple meal as usual, bread and maybe a peach, but they were hungry and variety didn't really matter to their bellies. Sakura's food remained untouched in her lap, She would sometimes rip off some bread, hold it up to her lips, the quickly drop it. A sour expression would flood her face. Naruto had coaxed her to eat, he even tried feeding her but she would clamp her mouth shut "I'm feeling kinda sick right now… and if I eat I'll just throw it up later… and that would end up being even worse for me…" Sasuke's eyes would narrow. Every time she didn't want to do something she would blabber out medical 'facts', claiming different side effects or illnesses. The rest of the group wouldn't even try to disprove her… obviously confident in her medicinal knowledge.

It was a dark night, the clouds blocked the stars and moon from view and every one went to sleep quickly… Sasuke had taken first shift. He waited about an hour, he wanted everyone to be as fully asleep as possible. The surrounding forest was a dense one, but he could hear a river nearby, and by the sounds of it, a loud one. He couldn't help but smile at his genius.

Sakura had tried to stay awake for several reasons. One, she didn't want to have to face that nightmare again... and two, she could feel Sasuke's eyes on her the entire night. But as the hours dragged on, lack of food and pure exhaustion had bested her, and her eyelids drooped.

The muscled in her arms tensed as she heard scuffling next to the fire, then the slow pace of footfalls nearing her. They stopped next to her head, she felt a hand wrapping around her arm and she opened her mouth to scream. But before she was even able to take a breath, she felt herself being lifted off of the ground, a hand over her mouth. She was being dragged somewhere and she used all her strength to kick and fight, but Sasuke held her so tightly she knew that if she didn't focus a great deal of chakra around herself her ribs would shatter and she could die… She could hear a distant thundering, a river booming as its rapid waters galloped downstream. She could feel the moisture in the air and knew they were standing next to it. The sound was almost defining.

She shook her head, trying desperately to shake his hand off but he only clamped it tighter. So she curled back her lips and bit down hard onto his fingers. She heard a yell and his hand was gone "Sasuke let me go!!" she yelled as loud as she could, but the river blocked out her voice, and she knew it would never make it to the others. "Shut up Sakura!" She felt herself being shoved onto the ground, and his knee pushed into her gut, pinning her down. She raised a chakra infused fist and threw it at him she felt it brush past his cheek only to be caught by him in one swift motion then pinned to the ground near her shoulder. He used his other knee to pin down her left arm, pushing his shin over her small wrist.

Sasuke could see the panic swarming her face, and for a brief moment he wondered if this was how she looked when the doppelgangers tortured her. "Sasuke please let me go!!" she screamed, wriggling left and right, trying to find an opening. He used his one free hand to grab her throat and lift her neck so her face was inches away from his own.

"Sasuke please don't-!!" she was stopped when Sasuke took a bite sized piece of bread and shoved it into her mouth. She screamed as loud as she could but he clamped a hand over her mouth. "Sakura eat it" he said coolly, but there was evident strain in his voice. The rumors of Sakura's inhuman strength were apparently real, and it was taking every ounce of his strength to hold her down. Her screaming became muffled by his hand and he could see bruises showing up on her arms. "**Sakura, swallow it damn it!" **

…It felt like a brick wall slamming up against his back and his grip on her immediately loosened. Sakura had swung her leg up at full force, kicking him off of her. He yelled out and immediately tackled her again. Pulling her into a headlock position. "Sakura damn it you need to fucking eat!" he yelled as he pulled her back. He pinched her throat making her yell out, he tried forcing more food in but she clamped out teeth shut, biting his hand.

"FUCK!" he could feel heat radiating off of his curse mark as he seethed with anger "SAKURA FOR ONCE IN YOUR FUCKING LIFE COULD YOU NOT BE A BURDEN TO ME?!"

"…"

Silence… Sakura lay like a slug, her legs sprawled out in front of her. Sasuke's arm was still around her neck, locking her into position, but his grip had loosened considerably. And then they came…

The waterworks…

"I hate you…" tears poured down her cheeks, her blindfold becoming soaked in the process. He stayed perfectly still, letting the words sink in…

"I hate you.." she said a little more desperately this time, her hands shaking as she grabbed a fistful of her hair. "I hate you!"

"I Hate You!!"

"I HATE YOU!"

She screamed and rolled onto her side, sobbing uncontrollably, hiding her face in her hands. Her head lay sideways in his lap, she looked like a small child…

But most of all as he looked down at her, she reminded him of himself.. when he walked into his home, and saw his entire family dead.

He knew he was useless, and he could do nothing, and he had nothing… but then Itachi came and had to rub it back into his face. And as he looked down at his arm, laying uselessly across her sobbing form… he could almost see Itachi… in himself.

She cried… for what seemed like hours but in truth only a few minutes had passed. He leaned down, he wished he had never done this…

"Sakura..." he said exasperatedly. But she only continued to cry. He sighed and placed his hand awkwardly on her back. He had never comforted anyone before… and he knew nothing of it. "…Saku-" Her arms suddenly shot out from around herself and she latched onto him, crying into his white shirt, yelling at him about things he couldn't hear.

"I HATE YOU!"  
"I HATE YOU!"  
"I HATE YOU!!"

That he heard.

She screamed onto him, burying her face in his shirt just above his naval. He placed a hand on her head, he could feel soothing words crawling out of his mouth but he bit them back. He was on a mission, not a therapy session, the only reason he brought her out here was to get her to eat. If she refused to eat and passed out on the way there, it would take twice as long to get back. And Sasuke needed to leave as soon as possible. A deep frowned formed on his lips as he looked down at her, his arms around her head. It would be so easy… to snuff out her life…

So easy.

His grip tightened around her head. All he would have to do was squeeze a little harder. She would suffocate, he would bring her back, put her into her sleeping bag. Then in the morning… they would all wake in horror to see she had died. Sasuke would suggest that the procedure the old healers had done was too much, and Sakura had become too frail.

A prefect plan.

Konaha would be in a depression, and there guard would be down, making it twice as easy for Sasuke to accomplish his goal.

Silence.

She had stopped crying, she was just breathing now. He immediately loosened his grip, scooting away from her.

He head hung low, "Sasuke… I keep seeing it…"

He looked up. "what?"

"I keep seeing them…"

Sasuke moved forward "You mean your remembering?"

She nodded, "But I don't want to… I don't want to remember what they did to me Sasuke…" She put her head in her hands. "I don't want to"

"Sakura…" he meant to say something like 'don't be afraid' or 'I'm here'. But this is Sasuke were talking about here…

"You need to eat" He dropped a roll into her lap. Her hands dropped and she fingered the bread.

"I cant" She whispered.

"Yes you can Sakura, because if you don't you'll get sick, just hurry up and eat it…" He stood, looking away from her face. She sat there for a moment, with a piece of bread pressed to her lips. She threw it into her mouth, and swallowed without chewing. He waited for her to take a few more large bites until half of the roll was gone. Satisfied that she would now survive her tugged the sleeve of her shirt prompting her to stand. "lets go" She struggled to stand, her knees shaking a bit, but his firm grip in her arm prevented her from falling.

The walk back was a quiet one, Sakura struggled not to vomit as the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth.

And Sasuke looked shamelessly at her. She was blind after all, and he could stare all he wanted. She had grown considerably. Her hair had remained short, he guessed that Naruto had been the one to cut it. He couldn't imagine Sakura letting anyone else come at her with a blade other than the blonde. Her body had matured and maintained a healthy and athletic form. He was reminded of the white scars of her back. Sasuke had avoided thinking about what happened to her, he didn't want to picture it, even Sakura had pushed the memories so far back that she forgot about them. But the healers had gone into her brain… memories were being released. He let out a heavy sigh as they reached the camp, his shift was over soon. He led Sakura back to her sleeping back and she quickly curled back inside, hiding her face. He sat Indian style next to her, staring at the dancing fire before them.

"what do you remember…" he whispered, unable to look at her pathetic form.

"… It… it comes back in pieces… but…" he voice wavered.

"Do you know what they wanted from you…?"

She stiffened slightly and nodded "I remembered just before we made camp…"

Sasuke turned to her, "what was it?"

She remained silent.

"Saku-" A Loud yawn interrupted them, and in the blink of an eye Sasuke was now sitting a good meter away from her. Naruto slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes, he stared at Sasuke, "Teme, Ill take my shift now…" he crawled slowly out of his bedroll. Sasuke nodded and stood, walking to his sleeping bag. Naruto walked and sat next to Sakura. Sasuke watched as Naruto leaned down and whispered something in her ear, taking her hand. "I'm here Sakura, you can sleep now…" and she smiled…

Sasuke could have choked in surprise. Naruto _knew_ that Sakura wouldn't sleep with Sasuke nearby… And as Sasuke watched his two teammates whisper words to each other, sometimes laughing, perhaps at a secret joke….

He couldn't help….

But feel a twinge…

of envy…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**JE-SUS! This took me forever to do!! Ok and my apologies for the scene where Sasuke is trying to feed Sakura, for anyone who was confused. **

**Sasuke if straddling with his duties towards his friends, and his duties towards his mission for orochimaru and killing his brother. **

**Anyways**

PLEASE REVIEW!!


	12. I Diddn't Want To Make It

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Tsunade drummed her fingers along the wooden surface of her desk. She glanced at the clock on her wall and growled when she realized it wouldn't make a difference. She stared at the empty chair next to her. When Sakura had first become blind, Tsunade became depressed… and then she became angry. She felt selfish, wallowing in her sorrows while Sakura was the one in need of pity. Tsunade slacked off on her work and hit the bars harder and longer. Eventually things got out of hand. Shizune had tried to keep things quiet so the council wouldn't find out about Tsunades' current condition, but you can only hide for so long. So Shizune went to the only person she could think of…

Tsunade remembered when Sakura stumbled into her office, kicking her door open and walking in. Naruto was holding her shoulders, guiding her away from walls and bookshelves. "_sensei!_" she had screamed…

And suddenly, in one big flash… Tsunade came back to reality. Because here, standing in front of her, was Sakura. Just as wild and feverish as she had ever been. Tsunade stared at her for the longest time, listening to her rant on about duties and patriotism, and of course alcohol consumption. Sakura waved her arms around frantically, sometimes Naruto would put in a word or two, or nod in agreement.

Sakura had gotten back up… she had climbed out of the deepest ditch and stood tall. And after Sakura's yelling was done, she stood there fuming, her cheeks bright red from yelling. Naruto also seemed unnaturally peeved… Sakura must have been rubbing off on him. The blonde had been with Sakura almost non stop since she came back, his life had practically melted away and he stuck to keeping his last teammate from slipping away from him.

Tsunade smiled as she remembered these things… as hard as the times were, Naruto's bright blue eyes were never devoid of hope…

"…_That's what I miss the most…" Sakura said as she settled herself comfortably next to her teacher. Tsunade's arm was wrapped tightly around her, and her sake remained untouched as she listened. _

_Tsunade, after some encouragement from Shizune, had decided to spend the day with Sakura. Naruto was uneasy to leave her alone but Sakura had assured him she would be all right… In truth, she really wanted to talk to Tsunade… not as a teacher, or a medic... but as one of her best and most trusting friends… almost like a mother. _

_Sakura sat close to Tsunade, wringing her fingers. And it only took a few moments for the older woman to burst into tears and throw her arms around the young medic. _

_So now they sat, snuggled together, talking about intimate and secret things. Things that Sakura hadn't even told Naruto. _

"_so what do you miss the most?" The blonde asked, resting her cheek on Sakura's head. _

"_The sky… Forests… Flowers… and Eyes…" She responded slowly, but the words came out smoothly, as if she had previously pondered the question. _

_Tsunade looked at her "Eyes?" _

_She nodded, smiling fondly at some lost memory, "Like yours, they're brown, and Ino's and Neji's, and Gaara's… Naruto's especially…" She licked her lips… "I miss seeing the eyes of my team…" _

"_What about Sa-" _

"_Him too..." she replied honestly and sighed. "I miss all of them… but when I think of them… It hurts…" _

_Tsunade nodded "This must be mental torture for you…" _

_Sakura shook her head and placed her hand on her chest "No… it physically hurts…" _

_With this said Tsunade sat up straight "what do you mean" _

_Sakura's voice was shaky "I think that whoever had me… I think they did things to me… but I can't remember… I can't remember anything…" tiny rivers of tears streaked her cheeks. _

"_Sakura you should have told me about this sooner! What if there's something wrong with you?!" Sakura shook her head "You don't understand!! I already examined myself and nothing is wrong… but whenever I try to remember… I become afraid of everything… and everyone… sometimes even Naruto…" Tsunade remembered some of Sakura's 'fits' and how she had screamed for help and begged for mercy…_

_They sat quietly for a long time… until Sakura spoke…_

"_I just wish I could see their eyes again…" _

"_That's what I miss the most…" _

_-o-o-o-_

A light knocking at her door snapped Tsunade out of her trance "Come in!" she barked in her usual fashion. The door opened and in walked Shizune, a sad expression on her face. "Tsunade-sama, I've just received word that Sakura's group had jus passed through the main gates…" Tsunade stood up, a wide smile on her face "Excellent! Bring them here at once and-" she paused looking at Shizune "Why the glum look Shizune?" she half laughed the words, but a prickly feeling of tension rose in the air. Shizune looked up at her "I was told, that Sakura is still wearing a blindfold…" Tsunade stood stalk still for a moment, before slowly sinking back into her seat… She shook her head disbelievingly. "Oh… oh Sakura…" She whispered.

Footsteps were heard down the hall and Tsunade straightened herself up "well… at least we tried… right?" Shizune nodded, not making eye contact with the older woman.

After a few seconds Naruto bounced into the room, with his customary smile and thumbs up. "Hey granny!" he yelled. Tsunade and Shizune looked stunned for a moment, then as the rest of the group walked in, all chatting casually, there shock only increased. Neji was politely guiding Sakura, with Sai on her left, and Sasuke keeping a safe distance from her.

"Tsunade-sama" Neji nodded.

Tsunade sat like a fish with its mouth open before Shizune nudged her. "oh!" she coughed and stood up "so… I take it the mission was… uh…" actually, she had no idea what the outcome of the mission was. She just stared at Sakura with confusion plastered onto her face. Neji recognized her look "ah well, so far it was a success... but the healers said it would be another month or so before we began to see results…"

"That's wonderful!" Shizune clapped her hands.

Tsunade gave a sigh of relief and sank back into her chair "so I take it the mission went smoothly then?" there was a long pause.

"Umm… not exactly…" Naruto mumbled.

Sakura swore several times that day, apparently another side effect was a potty mouth. She had sat through several detailed explanations of the mission, each one was different. Naruto, of course, had over exaggerated his side of the story. Sai struggled painfully with his story, trying his hardest to depict emotions. Neji had given all the technical basics, along with several hypotheses. And Sasuke had flatly stated his side, of course leaving several gaps in his story. Anytime her name was mentioned or a part of the story came up that annoyed her even the slightest, Sakura would mumble a string of profound words that would make the devil shiver. She could feel her fingers clenching together in anticipation. She was itching to do something fun, something exciting, and dangerous. She silently cursed her new mood swings... she didn't want to have to deal with this for an entire month. She let out a windy breath, slumping into her chair, waiting for the meeting to end.

"Sakura"

She sat up.

"Sakura I'm sure your tired, so I'll go over with the rest of this tomorrow, ok?" it was Tsunade… she was using her 'special' voice. The voice she used for patients, usually children. Sakura silently steamed about this. "ok…" she grumbled and stood up, holding out her arm. Within a second Naruto was there guiding her out of the room. She could hear the footsteps of the others behind her. Neji patted Sakura's shoulder "See you tomorrow" he waved to the rest of the group then left in a puff. Sai yawned quietly murmuring his awkward goody then leaving the trio to walk alone. "Hey Sakura you want me to spend the night tonight?"

Sasuke nearly slammed into a wall "what?" he said quickly, before he could stop the words from breaching his lips. Naruto turned to look at him "you say something?" he asked. Sakura ignored him "sure thing Naruto" if Sasuke were a lesser man, he would have stomped his foot. "but I don't want to go back to that room just yet.."

Sasuke noticed the slight edge in her voice when she said 'that room' she really hated that place…

_She cried "Please Sasuke! Please don't leave me here!! Just … just take me back to Konaha… to that fucking room where I'll spend the rest of my life… Just get me away from here…"_

Sasuke flinched at the memory, but pushed it aside.

"oh yeah?" Naruto asked, perking up a little "where do you wanna go?"

"Lets go eat" she said. Sasuke groaned… he immediately recognized the look on Naruto's face…

"RAMEN!!"

Naruto had slurped down Severed bowls before he even sat down, Sakura had ordered a smaller dish and a bottle of sake. Sasuke ordered a plain dish, not really interested in food at the moment. He watched in horror as Sakura expertly poured herself a very full glass and swallowed it down, her cheeks tinting pink. Naruto followed her example, his face twisting into a long smile "Man Sakura I forgot what a great drinking partner you were!"

"am!" she corrected elbowing him lightly.

"Right right" he agreed while pouring another glass. He slid it over to Sasuke "C'mon Sasuke! Join the fun!" Sasuke stared down at the drink for a moment before lifting the cup of burning water to his lips and swallowing it in one impressive gulp. Naruto whipped out the false admiration, clapping his hands and mouthing 'WOW'. Sasuke glared at him. The alcohol didn't do much other than relax him, he found himself laughing at things, or leaning over the table stupidly. He wasn't drunk, relaxed… was a better word. Although he couldn't say the same for his two companions.

Naruto declared that he no longer wanted to summon frogs, apparently plants were much more useful in battle. "I'm telling ya!" he shouted, flapping his right hand in the air like a fish. "Plants is like… all that, man!"

Sakura laughed a chirpy, musical laugh, clapping her hand on the table. "oh god Naruto! Your just soooo funny sometimes! I mean sometimes! You make me laugh sooo freaking hard that its like! Your like part funny person!" she slurred. Sasuke laughed at this and Naruto shook his head vigorously agreeing with her "I know I know!" Sakura yawned loudly, slamming her head onto the table "Fuck I gotta sleep Naruto, I laughed so hard that, my brain was all sleepy right then… and now I guess…" Naruto slung an arm around her "Your so smart! Like all the time!" He leaned over, his face twisting a bit. "Remember the time I broke my arm and you healed it! That was awesome!" Sakura nodded proudly, a wide smile stretching her cheeks. Narutos smile disappeared "and then that time you broke my arm and healed it and kept breaking it again and again!" tears poured out of the blonde's eyes as he recalled the nightmarish event. Sakura laughed at the memory and reached over the table to awkwardly pat Naruto on the cheek. He smiled again, laughing loudly and occasionally hiccupping.

A little while later, after Naruto had gone through several more fascinating stories, strange noises stated to come from his belly, "Uuuhhuo…." He gurgled, trying to finish his current story as he bragged his belly.

Sasuke smiled a half smile, knowing what was coming. "Like the time you-" Naruto heaved mid-sentence and quickly ducked out of the small booth and threw himself towards the nearest trashcan where he threw up a weeks worth of ramen. Sakura laughed again and Sasuke stood slowly, it was time to end the drinking. He nodded to one of the waiters, signaling her over. She smiled politely "can I help you?"

He pointed to Naruto "Yeah… can you call a car for him or something?"

"A what?" she asked raising an eyebrow. '_oh that's right'_ he thought. "uhm… someone to make sure he gets home ok…" her face lit up in understanding "O yeah we do that all the time! Ill get someone for him" she paused, glancing at Sakura "what about her?" she asked, Sasuke turned to Stare at the pink haired girl, leaning on the table half asleep. "no… I'll take her home…" There was a pause and when Sasuke turned back to the waitress she was giving him a suspicious look. The girl crossed her arms, "Yeah right buddy, listen I'm the manager here and I'm not gonna let you take advantage of some poor girl" she stated. Sasuke glared at her "Take advantage of? Listen I'll do whatever the hell I plea- OW!" he cried and the girl stomped the heel of her shoe into his shin. "What the fuck!" he yelled, clutching the bruise on his leg. The girl gave him a haughty look "don't get sassy with me sir!" she snapped her fingers and two very big looking men wearing chef coats walked out from the kitchen. Sasuke glanced at them, this girl had no idea who she was dealing with apparently. The two men stood on either side of her "do you two recognize him?" she asked, her eyes never leaving him. One of them squinted "oh yeah he's the Uchiha punk, came back to rejoin his team recently" the other one nodded "Oh yea it is him" She eyed him for another moment "all right then… you can go" Sasuke sighed and walked past her helping Sakura stand up, his shin still burning. "Please come again!" The girl said in a cheery voice. Sasuke grumbled as he walked.

"woa'-woah!" she mumbled as her feet wobbled beneath her. Sasuke turned around to make sure Naruto had an escort, and sure enough, a very tired looking man was leading the blond towards his home. "ok then, lets go Sakura" he took her arm and led her out of the restaurant. Sakura's giggles erupted from her as she struggled to walk in a straight line. "aw fuck!" she said half giggling still. "do you… do you have any giggle idea how hard it is to be drunk and blind… at the same time!?" she wobbled forward and Sasuke caught her arm again, laughing lightly "Must be hard"

"hell yeah its hard!" she began to stumble more and giggled more loudly "oh shit Sasuke, haha, I'm sooo wasted!" she flung her head back stopping. Sasuke tugged her hand "C'mon Sakura it late lets go"

She giggle "nope!"

he laughed lightly "I'm serious lets go"

"…fine" she huffed, reaching forward letting him lead her away. Sasuke concentrated on his feet as his intoxicated partner leaned on him, giggled and whispering incoherent words as she stumbled onward. Sasuke gave a sigh of relief when he spotted the tower, Sakura's head drooped forward and he was sure she was about three seconds away from passing out. "Come on Sakura were almost there" he mumbled, tugging her forward.

The hallways were dark, he assumed almost everyone was asleep, he found the room easily enough. "Sakura lets go" he said again, she slumped forward, he grumbled.

She had to fall asleep when they were almost there didn't she? She couldn't have waited just a few moments? He sighed and scooped her up, walking at a quickened pace towards her room. He kicked open her door and walked towards her bed, frowning lightly as he noticed how light she was… how frail she had actually become.

He set her gently down on the bed, then sat down next to her. Tiny scars littered her body, he cringed as he thought of how they might have gotten there. There was one by her knee, a slash that traveled three inches up her leg. He traced his finger across it slowly, trying to decipher any type of hidden clue. Sakura froze, whimpering as he touched her. He immediately pulled his hand back, she was awake now.

"Sakura it'…s just me, its ok…" he reassured her, but he wasn't entirely sure if that was the best idea.

Her breathing calmed and she lifted her hand. He stared at it for a moment, it had pretty much been the law that when Sakura lifted her hand it was for Naruto, Sai, or Neji. And usually he was NEVER allowed to touch her. But now she was asking him to… he eyed her as he slowly lifted his hand, clasping it with hers. Her fingers tightened around his, "are you all right Sakura?"

She shook her head. "I'm remembering things…"

"Can you tell me what you'r seeing?" he asked, slightly more eager now.

Her hand tightened and her lips formed a thin line.

"Sakura I know it's hard but if you can tell me these things I can help you…" he whispered.

"they…" she ground her teeth for a moment. "they wanted me to make something…"

"what did they want you to make?"

"I think I made it for them… I think they got it from me…" she ground her teeth together.

"what did you make Sakura?" he asked more desperately.

"I didn't want to!" she cried, trying to pull away from his intense grip.

"Sakura tell me what you made! it's ok!"

"THEY MADE ME DO IT!!" she screamed, yanking her hand away she planted a heavy kick in his gut that sent him flying back.

Sasuke let a loud curse fall from his mouth as he hit a wall, the plaster cracking and crumbling around him. He felt several bones snap like twigs before he blacked out…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Okay, who can guess what Sakura made?

If you can you get a cookie!!

Or , Idk… something,

Lol.

Allright, I know what your all thinking.. "Why the fuck did you take so long?" well I had extreme writers block and im having trouble finishing the story.. so if you have any ideas, please feel free to enlighten me!

Anyways! Please review! Im almost at 200 and that would be awesome!!


	13. Sinners

Hey all! Thanks for the reviews! They were really encouraging and I loved reading all of them!

Thank you soooo much!

Without all of you, there would be no story.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke didn't remember being dragged out of Sakuras' room, or being thrown onto Tsunades' couch, he didn't even remember them bandaging up his shattered ribcage.

What he did remember was Sakura kicking him into a wall just when he was about to uncover her big secret. He inhaled slowly due to the sharp pains that throbbed throughout his entire body. He heard a cough and turned his head to see Tsunade sitting at her desk, giving him an analytical stare. He grunted as he tried to sit up to face her.

"Don't strain yourself Uchiha… Sakuras' blows are not things to be taken lightly… your lucky she didn't kill you…" she laced her fingers together and placed them under her nose.

"She…" he grunted and straightened up "she kicked me…"

"obviously…" she drawled. "…the entire building shook… the only reason your alive is because of your excellent physical conditioning…" Sasuke blinked… had Sakura aimed to kill?

Tsunade sighed "I healed you as much as I could… although it feels like I didn't do anything, you should be fine by tomorrow…" Sasuke felt his ribs, he looked up to thank her when Shizune burst through the door "Tsunade!" she screamed "A village in the west it-" she stopped when she saw Sasuke sitting awkwardly in the corner. She stuttered on her words and clutched a bundle of papers to her chest.

Tsunade stood up "Uchiha out!" Sasuke jumped up and staggered towards the door which was slammed behind him. The minute it was shut he could hear the muffled rantings of Shizune, she sounded panicked and frightened. He slowly walked down the hallway, his brain swimming with questions and hypotheses of what might be happening. He heard Tsunade yell something and several ANBU ran past him and into her office.

Now he was a little disturbed, he walked out of the tower and into the pale morning sunlight. Surprisingly the village was swarming with people, running back and forth, ANBU were meeting in groups by the gate and departing quickly. "What the hell…" he mumbled and turned in the direction of Narutos' house. His walked blending into a full on sprint as he saw more and more people running panicked throughout the village.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto had his ear pressed to the phone, listening carefully to everything that Ino was telling him.

"_they said that everyone was dead!" _

"Everyone? Is that a joke? That village was huge!"

"_I don't joke about shit like this Naruto! They have already called my team out to investigate…so I can't talk for long, are you with Sakura?" _

"No, she is at her place."

"_you should go to her… she probably doesn't know what's going on, and she is still the best medic in the village, maybe she can help…" _

"yeah… but Ino…how the fuck do you wipe out an entire village without ever entering it?"

"_I don't know Naruto… all I heard was that when they approached the mane gate it looked like a nightmare… everyone was dead… they came back as soon as possible, they were too frightened to enter the village…I'm being sent to check it out…" _

"my god…"

"_Naruto… I was thinking…" _

"what?"

"_now.. don't get mad but… this seems like something that …well… that Orochimaru would do… you don't think that-" _

"no… he wouldn't…"

There was a sigh… "_All right then… well I have to go… Naruto?" _

"yeah?"

"_In case… in case I don't come back… tell Sakura a love her…" _

"…I will…"

"_Thanks you… bye"_

"be safe Ino" he hung up the phone and breathed out. He quickly threw on his black shirt and ran out of his apartment towards Sakura.

"Naruto!" Sasukes' throaty voice stopped him and he turned to see the Uchiha panting lightly with his hands on his knees.

"Sasuke! You-"

"Naruto what's going on?!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The cold walls suffocated every living thing inside them. She breathed in and out but each breath felt like poison drying out her lungs. Her wrists were raw from being cuffed and dragged and her nearly naked body shivered, begging for warmth. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at the dead body in front of her. She clenched her teeth together and suppressed a cry.

"you did an excellent job Sakura…" that venomous voice stung her ears and she clenched her fists. "this is exactly what we wanted of you, your reputation precedes you…"

"go to hell" she hissed.

"but you did such a wonderful job… you would make a wonderful addition to my community"

"GO TO HELL!" she shouted as she jumped up, swinging her fist towards the figure.

-o-o-o-

Sakura woke covered in sweat, her heart was dancing like a stallion. She was back in the darkness again… without an escape from her nightmares… her sins…

She whimpered and rolled onto her stomach.

*knock knock*

She lifted her head "hello?"

"Sakura!"

"Naruto!" she said, relieved that he was here now. "come in!"

She heard the door open and felt a gush of wind fly towards her as he ran in. She could hear Sasuke breathing.

"Sakura there's an emergency!" he grabbed her shoulders and hoisted her up.

Sakura was stunned for a moment "w-what happened?"

"one of our men went to a village just south of here and said that the entire village was dead, we don't know what's going on!" He was searching frantically for her shoes while trying to explain things.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke felt his heart rip….

This was it …

"_When the time is right… strike at midnight…" Sasuke nodded and turned to leave._

Midnight… midnight tonight… He felt his heart icing over again and a small groan escaped his lips and he unconsciously grasped his heart.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura could have screamed, she could have slit her own throat if she had a knife. An entire village dead… dead.

'I'm a murderer…' she thought.

She could hear Naruto scrambling around grunting something about shoes. She felt acid rising from her stomach but she swallowed it down, she could felt tears stinging the back of her eyes.

That was when she heard it, the uncomfortable groan from Sasuke. She stiffened and hatred filled her veins… Sasuke Uchiha…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto had finally found her shoes and practically dragged her out of the room.

"Naruto where are we going?!" she gasped, trying to keep up.

"the council room, there starting a meeting now" he continued to sprint down the hallway with Sasuke running next to him.

"Will they let us in?" Sasuke asked. Naruto glanced at him "that's why I brought Sakura"

Sakura grunted, she hated the council meetings, but she had attended almost all of them. Her position as top medic **and **right hand girl of the Hokage made her a must have at these meetings. Sasuke glanced at her but quickly tore his eyes away. Looking at her made him feel guilty…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The council room was crowded and smoky, it was dead silent as the council members spoke to the crowd which listened with desperate interest. When Naruto burst through one of the side doors gasping loudly with Sakura in tow and Sasuke close behind, no one even glanced at them. Naruto stood on his tip toes, craning his neck, looking for Tsunade. "there she is" he whispered. "C'mon Sakura" he whispered again. They walked silently to where she stood. She had spotted them and nodded, mouthing the word 'hurry'. Sasuke stayed behind, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, meditating, trying to figure out this knot in his brain. He knew what he had to do… but now that it was crunch time… he didn't want to do it.

Naruto handed Sakura to Tsunade who put her hand on the girls shoulder proudly. Naruto walked back to Sasuke and listened to the council.

"From what we were told…" an old raspy voice echoed throughout the room "when the men approached the village… everyone was dead… but there was no sign of struggle or conflict…" He coughed into his hand, the stress was evident on his withering face.

A unanimous voice from the crowd called out. "how exactly did the victims look? Were they asleep?"

The old man paused "that… is the troubling part… the villagers all seemed to be dead in different ways… the tower guards were seen lying on the outside of the gate… there bodies crushed… most likely from a fall…"

There was a thrum of whispers. "A fall? Trained ninja don't just fall…" Naruto whispered in Sasuke's ear. Sasuke ignored him, listening to this… listening to all these people talk about how horrible this was…

They all grimaced at the idea of an entire village dying… but Sasuke… he almost felt…

Empowered.

It was like being back with Orochimaru… like standing next to a lightning bolt. The sheer power of it was enough to mesmerize anyone. And to Sasuke, it was like a drug… Thinking about how the entire village of Konaha… one of the greatest in the world, was now completely stumped, Sasuke almost grinned.

The _ice_ was back…

The old man coughed again "they said that when they looked inside the walls people were lying in the streets, some had blood all over themselves and others seemed to have fallen as well…"

"so they were murdered?" another voice called. Sakura stiffened.

"well… that's the other issue… no one had even entered the village…there was no sign of struggle…"

Several people stood up, all yelling questions at the same time. Tsunade stood "**Quiet**!"

The room fell into silence again.

She looked around "we sent people to investigate… when they return tomorrow we will decide what to do… but the last thing we want is to panic!" several people nodded and mumbled in agreement. "so… tomorrow we will take action… for now… take care of your families… your homes… be prepared for anything…"

The council was dismissed and everyone left in silence. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura walked out of the building slowly, neither of them saying a word for some time... Sasuke mumbled something about being tired and Naruto agreed. "Sakura your staying with me tonight… is that okay?"

"yeah that's fine.." her eyes had been burning for the past two hours, she could practically feel the flames eating away at her flesh. But she didn't flinch or scream. She deserved every once of pain… she deserved to die…

The trio went separate ways, Sasuke sauntered off to his dark home and Naruto quickly cleaned his house, shaking the food off of his bed before letting Sakura in. He then plopped himself onto his couch and closed his eyes… he felt his heart crunching together… his village… the place he loved… could be in extreme danger…

But Tsunade was right… right now they needed rest… So he slept…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Ino inhaled sharply as she approached the village, her two companions did the same. One was a tall male medic named Hideki, the other was a redhead named Miho.

Hideki shook his head "how is this possible?"

Ino frowned "lets go" she walked through the gates followed by Miho and Hideki. It was like a nightmare, so unreal and inhuman that the only thing it could possibly be was a dream. But Ino knew it was real…

Bodies littered the streets, even small children were seen lying lifeless on the ground. Miho had covered her mouth, her hands were shaking as she looked around "who killed them?... who could have done this?"

Hideki frowned "this smells like Orochimaru… not even the Akatsuki are this sick…"

Ino nodded "Akatsuki wouldn't even bother with this… they aren't interested in villages like this…"

"but… why would-" Miho was cut off by Hideki.

"That's just how Orochimaru is… I was once sent on a mission to eliminate some of his followers… when we found the base they had occupied … well… lets just say it looked a lot like this…" Ino grimaced, she had heard from Naruto where Sakura had been found… it was starting to sound a lot more like the work of Orochimaru.

Hideki continued. "my guess is that he got some sort of new weapon and wanted to try it out… test his power…" disgust was dripping from Hideki's words.

"Allright… we need to search for survivors… but I doubt were going to find any… lets start by searching the-"

I high pitched scream interrupted her and she turned to see Miho writhing on the ground screaming bloody murder. She ran over to her and grasped her shoulders. "Miho! What's wrong?!?" she shook her shoulders but the girl only continued to scream. "Hideki! Get a sedative from my bag!" he rummaged through her backpack until he found the needle. "Here!" he handed it to Ino but it was too late. Miho reached into her own pocket and pulled out a kunai, lodging it into her own throat and ripping it to the side, nearly severing her entire head. Ino screamed and jumped away, she could hear Hideki breathing hard "she killed herself! She killed herself!" he gasped, grasping his head. "Hideki we have to get out of here!" she turned to run when she heard a loud groan of pain. She turned to Hideki who had fallen to his knees. His nails were digging into the sides of his head and streams of blood were flowing down his face. "Hideki no!" she screamed backing away from him.

He ground his teeth together and slammed his head down into the earth and started screaming. "Oh God!" Ino cried as she ran as fast as she could back to Konaha.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Okay okay,

I'm sorry… 

I know it took me for freaking ever to get this one up and I know it has been that way for the past four chapters… but the story is getting to its climax so I'm hoping that will speed up my process.


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